Four out of five Houston Methodist employees are . The sliver who are not will be suspended or fired if they refuse the shot, according to company policy.The hospital required managers to be vaccinated by April 15 and all other employees — about 26,000 workers in total — by June 7, said Stefanie Asin, a Houston Methodist spokesperson.With 84 percent of the staff vaccinated, the hospital is close to herd immunity, CEO Marc Boom wrote in a letter to employees this month.“As health care workers we’ve taken a sacred oath to do everything possible to keep our patients safe and healthy — this...…Four out of five Houston Methodist employees are . The sliver who are not will be suspended or fired if they refuse the shot, according to company policy.The hospital required managers to be vaccinated by April 15 and all other employees — about 26,000 workers in total — by June 7, said Stefanie Asin, a Houston Methodist spokesperson.With 84 percent of the staff vaccinated, the hospital is close to herd immunity, CEO Marc Boom wrote in a letter to employees this month.“As health care workers we’ve taken a sacred oath to do everything possible to keep our patients safe and healthy — this...WW…

Houston is the nation’s first city to record every major variant of the novel coronavirus — many of which are more contagious than the original strain.“The numbers of the major variants we have identified in our large sequencing study are disquieting,” said Dr. James Musser, who leads the team of experts at Houston Methodist Hospital behind the new finding. “The genome data indicate that these important variants are now geographically widely distributed in the Houston metropolitan region.”It comes barely a week after the ever-evolving virus’ death toll in the United States passed the...…Houston is the nation’s first city to record every major variant of the novel coronavirus — many of which are more contagious than the original strain.“The numbers of the major variants we have identified in our large sequencing study are disquieting,” said Dr. James Musser, who leads the team of experts at Houston Methodist Hospital behind the new finding. “The genome data indicate that these important variants are now geographically widely distributed in the Houston metropolitan region.”It comes barely a week after the ever-evolving virus’ death toll in the United States passed the...WW…

A 13-year-old girl is in critical condition at Texas Children’s Hospital a week after testing positive for COVID-19 and going into cardiac arrest.Alina Valenzuela, 13, has a previously undetected condition called myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle, according to a set up by a family member, Miriam Tervino. COVID-19 complications affected Alina’s heart and caused the cardiac arrest on Jan. 11, Trevino wrote on the fundraising page. She was placed on an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine before being transferred from a hospital near her home in Pearsall to...…A 13-year-old girl is in critical condition at Texas Children’s Hospital a week after testing positive for COVID-19 and going into cardiac arrest.Alina Valenzuela, 13, has a previously undetected condition called myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle, according to a set up by a family member, Miriam Tervino. COVID-19 complications affected Alina’s heart and caused the cardiac arrest on Jan. 11, Trevino wrote on the fundraising page. She was placed on an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine before being transferred from a hospital near her home in Pearsall to...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigatePutting on pants every morning is a painful struggle for Julie Archer.Archer’s left leg is fine, but she has to sit down to start the process of putting her right leg in the pants, which requires both hands and all of the 49-year-old’s upper body strength.When that is done, she can put on her shoes. Again the left side is fine, but some of the toes on her right foot have curled under. She has fallen countless times in the 18 years since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.“I can only lift my leg up about two inches off the...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigatePutting on pants every morning is a painful struggle for Julie Archer.Archer’s left leg is fine, but she has to sit down to start the process of putting her right leg in the pants, which requires both hands and all of the 49-year-old’s upper body strength.When that is done, she can put on her shoes. Again the left side is fine, but some of the toes on her right foot have curled under. She has fallen countless times in the 18 years since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.“I can only lift my leg up about two inches off the...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateGloria Ramirez lit gas-powered heaters as some of the country’s top politicians toured her East End home to see the damage caused by last week’s arctic weather.Family photos — years of history that would be lost lost if the wrong pipe burst — lined every inch of her walls. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D- Houston, advised Ramirez not give up in getting FEMA to reimburse for damages by taking pictures, keeping receipts and making sure her voice is heard.Changes needed to be made so Houstonians have a better quality of life, said...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateGloria Ramirez lit gas-powered heaters as some of the country’s top politicians toured her East End home to see the damage caused by last week’s arctic weather.Family photos — years of history that would be lost lost if the wrong pipe burst — lined every inch of her walls. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D- Houston, advised Ramirez not give up in getting FEMA to reimburse for damages by taking pictures, keeping receipts and making sure her voice is heard.Changes needed to be made so Houstonians have a better quality of life, said...WW…