COVID-19 TX

AARP Texas Director Tina Tran issued the following statement today (Tuesday, March 2):

Urging patience and mask wearing, East Texas health experts gave a broad range of advice and fielded questions about vaccine accessibility, distribution and safety during a recent AARP Texas tele-town hall.

Since the start of the pandemic, nearly 95% of COVID-19 deaths have been among people 50 and older.  While some caregivers and the loved ones they care for choose to get vaccinated, finding the vaccine has not been easy. In addition to access to the vaccine, people in communities of color face other barriers like distrust in the vaccine.   

En todo el país, las personas mayores de 50 años representan casi el 95% de todas las muertes a causa de la COVID-19. Aquí en Texas, decenas de miles de personas han muerto, y los adultos mayores y sus familias han sido muy afectados por el virus. Y como sabemos, en los hogares de ancianos, la situación es particularmente grave.

AARP Texas is hosting a series of live tele-townhall events in February to help keep you informed about COVID-19 vaccine distribution and how the coronavirus is impacting the 50+ population.

The state's top health authority reassured callers during an AARP Texas tele-town hall on Tuesday, Jan. 26, that the COVID vaccines distributed in Texas are safe and highly effective but urged patience in getting them into the arms of its people.

A glimpse of the 2021 AARP Texas legislative agenda, which includes advocacy related to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities and a host of consumer-related issues.

As community spread decreases, Gov. Greg Abbott amended visitation rules for long-term care facilities. Associate Commissioner Michelle Dionne-Vahalik spells out what these changes mean for visiting loved ones.

In a Facebook Live conversation with AARP Texas Director Tina Tran, Alexa Schoeman of the Texas Office of the Long-term Care Ombudsman discusses how to register and cast your ballot in a long-term care facility in Texas.

AARP has called for enactment of a bipartisan five-point plan to protect nursing home residents and staff by providing adequate PPE and regular testing, creating more transparency, requiring access for virtual visitation, improving staffing and oversight, and stopping attempts to provide blanket immunity for long-term care facilities who fail to protect residents and staff.