DATA: Vaccination rates continue to climb across Central Texas

AUSTIN (KXAN) — KXAN is keeping track of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, across Central Texas. Click here for statewide data.

County	Confirmed	Probable	Deaths	Recovered	Active
Bastrop	6,593	1,935	82	8,160	286
Blanco	571	116	18	650	19
Burnet	3,830	454	60	4,008	216
Caldwell	4,939	290	88	4,989	152
Fayette	1,428	882	54	2,154	102
Gillespie	1,660	796	48	2,360	48
Hays	16,490	1,828	227	15,617*	646*
Lampasas	1,741	324	30	1,947	88
Lee	964	1,085	36	1,869	144
Llano	1,087	449	48	1,393	95
Mason	241	146	6	367	14
Milam	1,348	1,026	40	2,301	33
San Saba	550	251	21	780	0
Travis	76,507	N/A†	766	74,159	1,582
Williamson	35,865	5,485	412	38,645	2,293
Total	153,814	15,067	1,936	159,399	5,718

How many people have died?

The first COVID-19-related death in Central Texas was reported March 27, 2020, in Travis County. As of March 6, 2021, 1,936 deaths have been reported in the region. Travis County has reported 766 deaths. Williamson County accounts for 412 deaths, and Hays County has reported 227 deaths caused by COVID-19.

How has the number of cases changed over time?

KXAN is keeping track of the daily increase in COVID-19 cases across Central Texas. The highest daily jump occurred on February 1, 2021, when 3,618 new cases were added to the area total. On this day, several counties saw surges in case totals after DSHS reported ongoing “data entry and data cleaning efforts.”

The largest increase in deaths in a single day occurred on January 14 and January 20, 2021, when 34 new deaths were reported.

How many people are in the hospital?

Austin Public Health reports hospitalization data for the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which comprises of Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson Counties.

As of March 6, 2021, 222 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized across the Austin MSA. That means 4.48 percent of active cases in the region currently require hospitalization. Of those, 71 are currently in the ICU, and 49 are on a ventilator.

How many people have recovered?

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Hays County and Travis County estimate how many cases have recovered based on assumptions related to hospitalization rates and recovery times.

As of March 6, 2021, at least 159,399 patients have recovered from COVID-19 across Central Texas. There are an estimated 5,718 active cases across the region.

On December 11, 2020, DSHS began including probable cases in their calculations. Hays and Travis Counties do not include probable cases in their reporting of recovered and active cases.

How many people have been vaccinated?

The first vaccines in Central Texas were administered on December 15, 2020, at Dell Medical School in Austin. Since then, 613,665 doses have been allocated to providers in Central Texas. A total of 454,374 doses, or 74.04 percent of those that have been allocated, have been administered to people.

A total of 15.81 percent of Central Texans (305,581) have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, based on July 2019 population estimates. Of those, 7.70 percent (148,793) have been fully vaccinated, and 8.11 percent (156,788) have been partially vaccinated.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses for a person to be fully vaccinated. People who have taken one dose are considered partially vaccinated. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose, so people who take that vaccine are automatically considered fully vaccinated. DSHS only counts people aged 16 and above when determining the coverage rate.

County	Fully Vaccinated		Partially Vaccinated		Doses Allocated
Bastrop	3,317	4.71%	4,511	6.40%	17,900
Blanco	832	8.18%	1,120	11.01%	2,200
Burnet	2,136	5.42%	3,585	9.09%	13,255
Caldwell	2,004	5.93%	2,377	7.03%	5,600
Fayette	1,535	7.24%	2,281	10.75%	2,400
Gillespie	3,346	14.72%	1,768	7.78%	14,100
Hays	15,590	8.50%	14,275	7.78%	56,190
Lampasas	1,058	6.12%	856	4.96%	1,700
Lee	796	5.75%	1,087	7.86%	1,300
Llano	1,065	5.71%	2,519	13.51%	2,800
Mason	366	10.26%	586	16.43%	600
Milam	1,678	8.47%	1,426	7.20%	3,700
San Saba	128	2.51%	231	4.52%	600
Travis	82,583	8.13%	80,331	7.91%	360,770
Williamson	32,359	7.08%	39,835	8.71%	130,550
Total	148,793	7.70%	156,788	8.11%	613,665

When were local cases first reported?

County	First case	First death
Bastrop	March 21, 2020	April 6, 2020
Blanco	March 23, 2020	May 30, 2020
Burnet	March 22, 2020	May 28, 2020
Caldwell	March 27, 2020	June 7, 2020
Fayette	March 20, 2020	April 22, 2020
Gillespie	March 31, 2020	June 21, 2020
Hays	March 14, 2020	April 13, 2020
Lampasas	April 3, 2020	July 28, 2020
Lee	April 1, 2020	June 1, 2020
Llano	March 24, 2020	July 16, 2020
Mason	April 4, 2020	August 29, 2020
Milam	March 20, 2020	April 20, 2020
San Saba	May 16, 2020	October 21, 2020
Travis	March 13, 2020	March 27, 2020
Williamson	March 18, 2020	March 28, 2020

Travis County

Williamson County

Hays County

Bastrop County

Blanco County

Burnet County

Caldwell County

Fayette County

Gillespie County

Lampasas County

Lee County

Llano County

Mason County

Milam County

San Saba County

What factors are affecting the data?

Austin Public Health changed the way it reports recovered cases on June 4, 2020, to better align with DSHS’ formula to estimate recoveries.. APH was previously reporting recovered cases after investigating each case individually. The Williamson County & Cities Health District made the same change on July 13, 2020.

On October 23, 2020, Hays County reported a spike of 22 deaths in a single day. The county said this was due to a new reporting system implemented by DSHS that enhanced reporting protocols from hospitals, funeral homes and nursing facilities. Hays County officials said they had not previously been properly notified of the deaths.

On October 28, 2020, Hays County made adjustments to their case total and active case total after a week-long internal review found incorrect data. Because of this change, Hays County’s total number of cases decreased by 273.

On November 11, 2020, Williamson County announced approximately 600 confirmed cases and 800 probable cases had not previously been reported. The cases dated between July and October and were discovered through a quality assurance check of data import systems. The same day, the county announced it would report data a day late moving forward, “to allow time to perform additional levels of quality assurance checks.”

On December 11, 2020, DSHS began including probable cases in their calculations. Hays, Travis and Williamson Counties do not include probable cases in their reporting of recovered and active cases.

On February 1, 2021, DSHS reported large increases in confirmed and probable case totals in several Central Texas counties. This was due to “ongoing data entry and data cleaning efforts.”

On February 28, 2021, Austin Public Health reported database issues prevented the entry of all new cases for that day, resulting in a low case count.

On March 1, 2021, Williamson County reported it would no longer report the estimated number of recoveries or active cases because data could not be “verified for accuracy and validity.” The county also stopped reporting demographic case data. KXAN switched to DSHS data for estimated recoveries and active cases the following day.

Several backlogged cases have been reported over the span of several months: