shots for all

Texas will open COVID-19 vaccine appointments to all adults this month

All Texas adults will be eligible for the vaccine starting next week.

Photo courtesy of ABC13

The Texas Department of State Health Services announced March 23 that vaccine eligibility will be open to adult Texans starting Monday, March 29.

In a release, the DSHS said it expects vaccine supplies to increase next week.

The state's Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel recommended opening vaccination to everyone who falls under the current Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorizations.

Most vaccines are authorized for people 18 years old and older; the FDA has authorized the Pfizer vaccine for use in people 16 and older.

"We are closing in on 10 million doses administered in Texas, and we want to keep up the momentum as the vaccine supply increases," says Imelda Garcia, DSHS associate commissioner for laboratory and infectious disease services and the chair of the Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel. "As eligibility opens up, we are asking providers to continue to prioritize people who are the most at risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death - such as older adults."

Although eligibility will be open to all adults, the DSHS has directed providers to prioritize people 80 years old and older when scheduling appointments, immediately moving them to the front of the line.

The DSHS also announced that it will launch a website to allow people to register for the vaccine through public health providers next week.

The public will be able to enroll in the Texas Public Health Vaccine Scheduler to identify upcoming vaccine clinics hosted by DSHS or a participating local health department and be notified when new clinics and appointments become available.

The department will also launch a toll-free number for those who cannot make an appointment online.

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For more on this story, visit our news partner ABC13.

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better luck next year

Austin drops out of top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Tracy Vu on Unsplash

Austin needs to put in some major work to improve its ranking for the 2026 report.

In a surprising turn for the city, Austin is no longer considered one the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Austin the 53rd best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Austin took a 10-place tumble after previously ranking as No. 43 for two consecutive years, starting in 2022.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Austin in the top 15 – when explaining the Texas Capital's successes. The report praised Austin's "progressive spirit," economic prosperity, and the award-winning University of Texas at Austin.

"Austin continues to position itself as a hub of innovation and talent," the report's author wrote. "Over the past decade, the Austin area has become a magnet for major corporations, with Tesla recently establishing headquarters here to join long-standing players like Whole Foods and Dell."

However, Resonance attribute's Austin's dip in the rankings due to rising office vacancy rates and high housing prices.

"The office vacancy rate is climbing as remote work continues to impact the demand for commercial spaces," the report said. "Moreover, housing remains among the least affordable in the U.S., despite home prices having dropped 18 percent from the pandemic highs seen in mid-2022, the most among the 50 largest U.S. metro areas according to Redfin."

Elsewhere in Texas, both Houston and Dallas made major rebounds on the World's Best Cities list for 2025 from the previous year's rankings. Houston had plummeted into No. 66 in 2023, but has now skyrocketed back into the top 50 to claim the No. 40 spot. Meanwhile, Dallas moved up from No. 73 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).

austin reports city life