Kerr County reports nine additional COVID-19 deaths

Kerr County officials reported Monday that nine additional COVID-19 fatalities have been attributed to Kerr County residents over the past week, pushing the county’s confirmed COVID-19 death toll to 159. Other county coronavirus statistics released on Monday: 34 hospitalizations at Peterson Regional Medical Center, 1,317 hospitalizations in the 28-county region that includes Kerr County, 180 active cases and 49.15% of Kerr County residents are fully vaccinated against the virus.

Gillespie County has also added more COVID-19 fatalities to their official tally since the pandemic began. As of January 31, the county reports their overall coronavirus death toll stands at 96, an increase of five individuals since Friday. The county’s positivity rate for the week of January 22 – 28 was 47.62%.

Statewide, according to Texas Department of State Health Services, 20 million Texans have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 58.05% of all eligible Texans are fully vaccinated against the virus.

Moderna announced Monday that U.S. Regulators granted full approval to its COVID-19 vaccine. The decision was bolstered by real-world evidence from more than 200 million doses administered in the U.S. since the FDA cleared the shot in December 2020. The FDA granted full approval for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine last August.

According to AP reports on Monday, Pfizer is expected to ask the FDA to authorize their coronavirus vaccine for children ages six-months – 5 years old. The company’s application is expected to be submitted as soon as Tuesday.

The University of Texas at San Antonio announced Monday evening that students are scheduled to make a return to in-person learning on Monday, February 7. Students attending Alamo Colleges are also expected to return to campus February 7. Other Central Texas colleges, such as UT-Austin, Texas State University, Trinity University and Our Lady of the Lake University returned to campus Monday.