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Travis County will receive significantly fewer COVID vaccine doses next week as demand falls

Dr. Natalie Williams, a family medicine physician at Austin Regional Clinic, speaks with a patient. (Austin Regional Clinic/Twitter)
Fifty-six Travis County providers are set to receive nearly 50,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, a decrease of nearly 30,000 doses compared to last week's allocation.
For the first time since being designated by the Texas Department of State Health Services as one of two hub providers in Travis County, Austin Public Health will not receive any doses. As vaccine eligibility has expanded, the department and some other local providers have reported declining demand, prompting more community outreach and a shift to walk-up clinic models.
Seton Medical Center, which provides doses to the Central Texas Vaccine Collaborative's weekend drive-thru clinic at the Circuit of the Americas, and the University of Texas at Austin, Travis County's second hub provider, will receive the largest allocations next week: 11,700 and 5,850 doses, respectively.
The local providers due to receive the largest allocations, after Seton Medical Center and UT Austin, are:
- Austin Diagnostic Clinic Travel Clinic (1,170 doses)
- South Austin Medical Clinic (1,170 doses)
- Vina Pharmacy (1,170 doses)
- Walgreen Pharmacy on Wells Branch Parkway (1,170 doses)
- Walgreens Pharmacy on William Cannon Drive (1,170 doses)
- Walgreens Pharmacy on West Anderson Lane (1,170 doses)
Providers for this week's allocation include area private practices, medical clinics and pharmacies, which will receive 100 to 1,170 first doses apiece. A full list of Travis County recipients and how many vaccines they are receiving can be found here. A list of local providers offering appointments to 16- and 17-year-olds can be found here.
On Friday, vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to recommend resuming use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, whose use federal agencies paused after six recipients—out of more than 7.2 million—developed blood clots, including one case in Texas.
"With the Johnson & Johnson vaccine again recommended for use in the United States, the federal government is expected to make doses of that vaccine available to states as early as this weekend," according to a DSHS press release. If this happens, the state health department could see its allocation increase.
With this latest allocation, Travis County will have received 884,315 initial or single doses. As of early Friday afternoon, more than half of the county population 16 and older had received at least one dose and nearly one-third were fully vaccinated, according to DSHS.
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Popular
Samsung could be adding to its presence in Northeast Austin, according to an Austin Business Journal report.
Samsung might soon be making more moves in the Austin metro.
The tech giant, which made waves as it announced plans to build a $17 billion chip plant in Taylor in late 2021, might be looking to expand in the Northeast Austin area, according to an Austin Business Journal report.
ABJ said the South Korean company is seeking more tax breaks from nearby Taylor and Manor school districts. The company filed documents requesting Chapter 313 incentives related to the breaks Saturday, and ABJ said each district will review the requests separately on Tuesday.
"While we do not have specific plans to build at this time, the Chapter 313 application process is part of our long-term planning to evaluate the viability of potentially building additional fabrication plants in the U.S.," Samsung Austin Semiconductor LLC.'s director of communications, Michele Glaze, told the ABJ.
But Samsung has made headlines for more than just the $17 billion plant: In early 2022, the company caught heat for two separate spills of millions of gallons of wastewater into tributaries near its semiconductor plant.
While no expansion is promised, ABJ speculates that expansions could occur at the 1,200 acre planned Taylor factory or near the chipmaking factory on Austin's East Parmer Lane. Both expansions could bring even more revenue and job opportunities to Samsung's Texas home.
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Austin FC earned a last-minute 2-2 draw against Orlando City SC at Q2 Stadium Sunday night. (Austin FC/Twitter)
A first minute error gave Austin FC an early setback, but with the help of two red cards and two second-half goals, the Verde and Black still forced a last-minute tie in a messy home battle against Orlando City SC Sunday night.
With the 2-2 draw, Austin dropped from No. 1 in the MLS West conference but still earned a point in the standings thanks to a penalty kick goal from Sebastian Driussi and a breakthrough shot from striker Moussa Djitte, who scored his first goal with the club in the final minute of play.
Here are the top three takeaways from the match:
A fateful mistake
Pouncing on the early chances 🔥 #DaleMiAmor | #VamosOrlandopic.twitter.com/RDn1w7NCHM
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) May 23, 2022
Just days after his highlight reel-worthy LAFC performance, Austin keeper Brad Stuver scratched heads as he gave away a goal seconds into the game. Stuver's fateful pass went straight to Orlando's Junior Urco, who was already in the box and tapped a quick pass to Ercan Kara to score the first goal of the match.
The mistake forced Austin to chase a tie for the rest of the match, especially as center back Ruben Gabrielsen benched himself in the 20th minute. The team later said Gabrielsen has come down with something similar to a stomach bug.
Orlando would score two minutes later, and Austin FC left the first half looking like the opposite of its "Best in the MLS" self from just days prior.
The two red cards
Sebastián Driussi right down the middle.
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 23, 2022
His 8th goal of the season cuts the lead in half for @AustinFC. pic.twitter.com/4sGccamVg3
By the 60th minute of the match, however, the tides had turned. Orlando's Rodrigo Schlegel, who had already racked up a yellow card on a handball, was ousted from the game two minutes later for yet another handball, this time in the penalty box.
Austin's main man Sebastian Driussi took the kick and sent it in for his eighth goal of the season to make it 2-1.
And just over five minutes later, Orlando's Cesar Araujo was the second man in purple kicked out of the match after he kicked Alex Ring on a slide tackle near the box. Austin was left with just over 20 minutes, and just nine opponents left, to try and tie it up.
The 'Mouss' is loose!
Moussa Djitté STOPPAGE TIME EQUALIZER for @AustinFC! 😱 pic.twitter.com/db7iQwff6Q
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 23, 2022
As the whistle blew and regulation time ran out, Orlando seemed to have won the match. The team had withstood many, many close calls—including two shots off the post from Austin FC's Diego Fagundez and Maxi Urruti—as Austin FC flooded the box with 22 cracks at a goal.
But thanks to the chaotic nature of the game, Austin FC was given nine extra minutes to tie it up. Moussa Djitte was the one who finally broke through five minutes into stoppage time, earning his first goal in Verde to put a 2-2 cap on the wild home match.
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