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Texas entered the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago already at a disadvantage, with an unhealthy and uninsured population, an underfunded public health system and workforce shortages spread across the health care system. While some hoped the pandemic might force improvements, all of these long-standing issues remain, or are worse, than before.
Today, Texas’ spending on public health funding is worse than before the pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy is surging. Local health authorities have fewer tools to protect their constituencies. Growing distrust of science, expertise and authority have unraveled the hard-earned lessons from COVID.
Faced with the newest bird flu strain and the resurrection of the once-eradicated measles disease, can the state and local leaders change the enduring legacy of COVID-19 before the next pandemic ravages the state?
Join us Wednesday, April 2 at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health’s Austin Campus. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. for lunch, and the hourlong conversation will begin in person and online at 12 p.m. Lunch is provided by The Texas Tribune.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
We can’t wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas’ breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more.
Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025.
TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.