Page 35 - Mark Escott News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

With the state's mask mandate set to be lifted next week, the top health officials in Austin and Travis County on Friday urged business owners to keep mask requirements in place, saying it's more important than ever to keep coronavirus cases down as more vaccine doses become available to the public. Despite the caution, Dr. Mark Escott, interim Austin-Travis County Health authority, and Austin Public Health Director Stephanie Hayden-Howard, offered positive news that the Austin area could by Monday enter Stage 3 of Austin Public Health's risk-based guidelines. Under Stage 3, Austin Publi...

Health experts warn that even with an increase in vaccines, the pandemic is far from over.

If things continue this way, Escott said he may recommend we drop down to stage three risk guidelines and possibly flirt with stage two in the late spring. But that doesn't mean letting down your guard.

1. Merck has agreed to produce Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in a deal expected to boost the nation's inoculation effort, President Biden announced Tuesday. The deal with Merck, a Johnson & Johnson rival, was hammered out in talks between the two companies' chief executives and White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients. It will help speed up production and distribution of the vaccine, which received emergency approval from...

10 things you need to know today: March 3, 2021 Harold Maass 1. President Biden said Tuesday that the "stepped-up process" for producing and distributing coronavirus vaccines had put the country "on track" to have enough doses for every adult in the United States "by the end of May," several months earlier than he previously predicted. Biden said the federal government was giving Johnson & Johnson, maker of a vaccine just approved for emergency use, the support it needs for around-the-clock production. The Biden administration brokered a deal under which Merck agreed to produc...