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The Pfizer vaccine is officially coming to Texas—and soon—as part of a pilot delivery program by the pharmaceutical company.
Texas will receive the vaccine alongside three other states—New Mexico, Rhode Island and Tennessee—all chosen for their size, population diversity, immunization structure and need to reach people in both urban and rural communities, reports Reuters.
The vaccine has demonstrated 90% efficacy in early trials and must be kept and shipped in freezing conditions, -94° Fahrenheit, something the company seeks to address that could cause challenges in distribution and storage.
However, the four states picked for the trial will not receive doses before the rest of the states and will not receive preferential treatment.
"We are hopeful that results from this vaccine delivery pilot will serve as the model for other U.S. states and international governments, as they prepare to implement effective COVID-19 vaccine programs," Pfizer said in a statement on Monday.
In a $1.95 billion deal with the U.S. government, Pfizer will supply 100 million doses of the vaccine to the country with the option to request an additional 500 million doses.
Moderna also recently revealed its vaccine is 94.5% effective and is testing over 400 Austinites as part of its trial. Moderna is expected to put in the emergency use FDA application within the next few weeks.
Both vaccines are well over the 50% efficacy requirement instituted by the U.S. government.
As of right now, it is still unknown whether or not it is possible to still spread the virus even after being vaccinated. It is also unknown whether or not patients will require a booster shot.
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Popular
(Tesla)
Giga Texas, the massive Tesla factory in southeast Travis County is getting even bigger.
The company filed with the city of Austin this week to expand its headquarters with a new 500,000-square-foot building. The permit application notes “GA 2 and 3 expansion,” which indicates the company will make two general assembly lines in the building.
More details about the plans for the building are unclear. The gigafactory has been focused on Model Y production since it opened in April, but the company is also aiming for Cybertruck production to kick off in mid-2023.
While there is room for expansion on the 3.3 square miles of land Tesla has, this move comes after CEO Elon Musk’s recent comments about the state of the economy and its impact on Tesla.
In a May interview with Tesla Owners Silicon Valley, Musk said the gigafactories in Berlin and Austin are “gigantic money furnaces” and said Giga Texas had manufactured only a small number of cars.
And in June, Musk sent a company wide email saying Tesla will be reducing salaried headcount by 10%, then later tweeted salaried headcount should be fairly flat.
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(Dullnig Ranch Sales)
You’ll have to leave city limits if you’re looking for a proper ranch property like 417 Acres Shipp Lake Ranch, aptly named for its acreage. The property comes built out with three farmhouses, one of which has bedrooms and two bathrooms and two of which have two bedrooms and one bathroom. The nearly untouched property, which surrounds the 100-plus-acre Shipp Lake, has remained in the same family since the early 1900s and gives you picturesque views for the making of a dream home. In fact, the previous owners ran a water ski camp on the property.
Sitting waterside on Lake Austin, this home gives you the unique opportunity to own a piece of the lush Hill Country with views of Mount Bonnell. The 2,750-square foot, three-bedroom, four-bathroom house allows you to integrate indoor and outdoor life with large windows opening to an outdoor living area. The crown jewel is the .76-acre parcel of land that tapers off to your own lakeside resort, featuring an covered outdoor kitchen, fire pit, stone boat house to store your water sports supplies and veranda sitting at the mouth of the water, perfect for an entertainer.
Got dreams of becoming a real Texas rancher? 7814 Brown Cemetery Rd. is the perfect place to start with 40 rolling acres of land and its very own swimming hole. Just east of Austin in Manor, the modest-on-the-outside home clocks at 4,412 square feet with five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms, but there are an additional two living structures on the property. The horseshoe-shaped pond sits in the heart of the property and comes equipped with a water slide, diving board and a fishing dock.