Austin Public Health

The federal emergency expires at the end of the day. Austin Public Health officials remind people COVID is still circulating and asks them to do what they can to prevent its spread.

A City of Austin audit found that the Central Texas Allied Health Institute fabricated documents that led to the improper receipt of $417,000 in funds from Austin Public Health.

The local public health agency wants Austinites to get their vaccinations up to date before changes in federal policy potentially affect the availability of free shots.

Three years after Austin's first COVID case was detected, Lauren Ancel Meyers, director of UT Austin's Center for Pandemic Decision Science, says it's a matter of when, not if, another pandemic arrives. She and her fellow researchers want to be prepared.

For the better part of three years, the city has stumbled communicating when it would activate cold weather shelters. Nonprofits and first responders are tired of it.

The shelters are intended to serve people experiencing homelessness during extreme heat or severe cold. Extremely cold weather is on the horizon later this week.

It may be the off-season, but Austin's Public Health department is advising people to be careful of mosquitoes.

Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes said the order was issued in part because of the limited amount of vaccines available.

Austin Public Health expects the extra vaccines to arrive next month. It said it will continue to prioritize people who’ve had high-risk contact with someone who has tested positive.

The city approved a contract with a California-based nonprofit that faces a handful of lawsuits back home. Service providers say the city moved too quickly.