Feb. 26, 2021
State surpasses 5 million doses administered
The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses shipping to Texas providers continues to climb with 676,280 first doses allocated to the state by the federal government for the week of March 1.
Feb. 19, 2021
CDC continues shipping vaccine for the current week, delayed due to weather
As Texas thaws from this week’s winter storms, COVID-19 vaccine will again be distributed across the state in larger amounts. Texas providers have been allocated 591,920 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government for the week of Feb. 22.
Feb. 16, 2021
With power outages from this week’s winter storm affecting large portions of Texas, the Texas Department of State Health Services is urging people to use extreme caution with electric generators and heat sources that produce carbon monoxide.
Feb. 12, 2021
More than one million Texans are fully vaccinated
The state of Texas will receive 407,650 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government for the week of Feb. 15.
Feb. 5, 2021
The state of Texas will receive 401,750 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government for the week of Feb. 8. The Texas Department of State Health Services has instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ship those doses to 358 providers in 135 counties across Texas.
Jan. 29, 2021
The state of Texas will receive 520,425 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government for the week of Feb. 1.
Jan. 23, 2021
The state of Texas will receive 332,750 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government next week.
Jan. 18, 2021
The Texas Department of State Health Services takes aim at rabies when its Oral Rabies Vaccination Program resumes flights Jan. 18 from Zapata.
Jan. 16, 2021
The state Texas will receive 333,650 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine next week. The Texas Department of State Health Services has instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ship those doses to 260 providers across Texas.
Jan. 10, 2021
The Texas Department of State Health Services has instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ship first doses of COVID-19 vaccine to 234 providers this week.
Jan. 7, 2021
The first known Texas case of the COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant has been identified in a resident of Harris County.
Jan. 7, 2021
Next week, Texas will direct most of the COVID-19 vaccine received from the federal government to large providers who can vaccinate a total of more than 100,000 people.
Jan. 4, 2021
The Texas Department of State Health Services has instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ship first doses of COVID-19 vaccine to more than 949 providers in 158 Texas counties over the next week.
Dec. 28, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services is instructing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ship COVID-19 vaccine to more than 350 providers in 94 Texas counties over the next week.
Dec. 21, 2020
The state of Texas will prioritize people who are at the greatest risk of severe disease and death from COVID-19 for the next phase of vaccination.
Dec. 18, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services is instructing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ship COVID-19 vaccine to more than 1,100 providers in 185 Texas counties over the next week.
Dec. 14, 2020
The first shipments of COVID-19 vaccine have been delivered in Texas. Four sites received 19,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine Monday morning.
Dec. 11, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services today will update the COVID-19 data dashboard to include additional data and to simplify the layout to improve functionality.
Nov. 18, 2020
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, Texas enters the holiday season at a time when COVID-19 is spreading rapidly and hospitalizations continue to rise throughout the state.
Oct. 19, 2020
To help public health professionals and scientists better understand the spread of COVID-19 in Texas and the immune response it causes in individuals, researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are partnering with the Texas Department of State Health Services to launch the Texas Coronavirus Antibody Response Survey, Texas CARES.
Oct. 26, 2020
With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rising, you don’t have to abandon Halloween and Día de los Muertos activities, but you can make them safer this year.
Oct. 19, 2020
To help public health professionals and scientists better understand the spread of COVID-19 in Texas and the immune response it causes in individuals, researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are partnering with the Texas Department of State Health Services to launch the Texas Coronavirus Antibody Response Survey, Texas CARES.
Sept. 30, 2020
Oct. 1 is Texas Influenza Awareness Day
With cold and flu season beginning and COVID-19 still spreading in Texas, now is a perfect time to get a flu shot. The Texas Department of State Health Services encourages everyone to protect themselves, their families and their communities against respiratory illness throughout the flu season by getting immunized as soon as possible.
Sept. 17, 2020
In collaboration with the Texas Education agency, the Texas Department of State Health Services today posted on the DSHS website the statewide number of cases of COVID-19 reported by Texas public schools.
Sept. 14, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services today will begin reporting two additional measures of the COVID-19 positivity rate, the percentage of tests that are positive in a given period.
Aug. 27, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services is sharing health precautions as residents return to areas affected by Hurricane Laura.
Aug. 20, 2020
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) in collaboration with the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) today announced a new system to monitor and report confirmed COVID-19 cases in public schools across Texas.
Aug. 3, 2020
DSHS has launched the Consumable Hemp Program to regulate the manufacturing, processing, distribution and retail sale of consumable hemp products.
July 31, 2020
DSHS will not post new data on the COVID-19 dashboard on Sunday, August 2 due to a scheduled upgrade to the system that processes electronic lab reports.
July 27, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services is improving the reporting of fatalities due to COVID-19 by identifying them through the cause of death listed on death certificates.
July 23, 2020
With the first Texas case of West Nile virus disease this year, DSHS reminds people to take precautions to prevent mosquito bites and stop transmission of the potentially deadly disease.
May 31, 2020
The company that reported a missing radiographic camera has located the device intact.
May 30, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services is notifying the public of a missing radiographic camera, an industrial device that contains radioactive material. The material is sealed within multiple layers of protection, and the risk of exposure is very low.
May 12, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services is distributing 1,200 vials of the drug remdesivir to hospitals to treat patients with COVID-19.
March 24, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services is updating its method of reporting COVID-19 cases in Texas. In order to provide more timely information, the DSHS daily case count now includes all cases reported publicly by local health departments around the state.
March 19, 2020
Calls on Texans to stay home and limit gatherings to 10 people
Dr. John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, today declared a public health disaster in Texas because COVID-19 "has created an immediate threat, poses a high risk of death to a large number of people and creates a substantial risk of public exposure because of the disease's method of transmission and evidence that there is community spread in Texas."
March 17, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services has confirmed the first death of a Texas resident who tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. The patient was a man in his 90s who was a resident of Matagorda County and had been hospitalized.
March 15, 2020
At the request of the Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas has received a share of personal protective equipment from the Strategic National Stockpile.
March 11, 2020
Public health officials in Texas are investigating a case of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, in a Montgomery County resident with no out-of-state travel and no identified contact with another person with COVID-19.
March 9, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services is working with Collin County Health Care Services and other local health departments to investigate a presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in a Collin County resident with recent travel to California. The patient remains isolated at home under public health monitoring as additional testing is done to confirm the test result. Collin County is leading the investigation to identify close contacts of the individual and monitor and test them as appropriate.
March 4, 2020
Travel-related case in Fort Bend County
The Texas Department of State Health Services and Fort Bend County Health and Human Services are reporting the first positive test result for COVID-19 in Texas outside of the passengers returned under federal quarantine from Wuhan City, China or the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
Feb. 29, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services is notifying people who visited the cattle barn at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Feb. 11-14 that they may need to be assessed for a possible rabies exposure.
Jan. 18, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services is notifying people who visited the Erath County Humane Society Jan. 3-15 that they may need to be assessed for a possible rabies exposure.
Jan. 9, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services is alerting consumers after a case of mercury poisoning was linked to a cosmetic purchased in Mexico.
Jan. 8, 2020
The Texas Department of State Health Services' successful Oral Rabies Vaccination Program gets off to a flying start today in its annual mission to protect people and animals from the deadly disease.
Dec. 13, 2019
The Texas Department of State Health Services has confirmed that six children have died in Texas of flu-related causes since the flu season started at the end of September.
Dec. 02, 2019
DSHS is reminding people to take precautions following 27 cases of shigellosis in Fort Stockton and Pecos County.
Nov. 01, 2019
As deer hunting season begins, the Texas Department of State Health Services reminds Texans to take precautions to protect themselves from serious diseases transmitted by animals.
Oct. 03, 2019
New state law requires additional test during pregnancy
Texas public health officials are reminding health care professionals about a new law increasing syphilis testing during pregnancy.
Sept. 30, 2019
Tuesday is Texas Influenza Awareness Day
DSHS recommends that everyone 6 months old and older get vaccinated now to prevent flu and its potentially serious complications.
Sept. 26, 2019
Texas was recognized this week for its successful effort to increase immunizations among emergency responders.
Sept. 12, 2019
The Texas Department of State Health Services will receive a federal grant to support the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee and its efforts to reduce maternal deaths in Texas.
Sept. 5, 2019
Health officials, state leaders and patient advocates gathered at the state public health laboratory in Austin today to celebrate the addition of a new test to the health screening done for every baby born in Texas.
Sept. 3, 2019
A ribbon cutting ceremony and laboratory tour to celebrate implementation of testing Texas newborns for X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, or X-ALD.
Aug. 19, 2019
The Texas Department of State Health Services is investigating suspected Texas cases of severe lung disease in people who used e-cigarettes.
Aug. 13, 2019
Public health officials have confirmed the state's first case of illness caused by West Nile virus in 2019.
July 17, 2019
Operation Lone Star, the annual emergency preparedness exercise coordinated by the Texas Department of State Health Services, returns to six South Texas sites July 22-26.
July 8, 2019
Preparedness effort aimed at being ready before disaster strikes
June 27, 2019
DSHS is sharing steps people can take to protect against naturally-occurring anthrax.
June 20, 2019
A presentation on GetWaiveredTX, a DSHS program to expand the tools available to health care providers for opioid treatment.
May 23, 2019
A mild winter, even by Texas standards, means public health officials are on guard for a possible increase in West Nile virus cases this year.
March 6, 2019
The Texas Department of State Health Services is now reporting 10 measles cases in the state in 2019, one more than Texas saw all of last year.
Jan. 9, 2019
The successful Oral Rabies Vaccination Program resumes flights today in its annual mission to control rabies in the state.