The state’s vaccination rate dropped across all age groups from 2025 to 2026.
By William Tong and Julia James
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
As the most up-to-date vaccines are set to come out, Texas has experienced rising rates of COVID infection, data suggests.
Wastewater COVID readings in Texas have surged well beyond the national average, starting in July, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Texas’ COVID-19 cases began to spike in July, faster than the rest of the country
The state’s wastewater viral activity level hovered a little above the U.S. average through most of June. It crested twice in the summer before reaching the CDC’s “very high” threshold during the week ending Aug. 22, the latest date for which data is available.
Texas was the only state in the nation with “very high” wastewater COVID levels as of Aug. 22. Wastewater data can alert public health officials to rising illness beyond other indicators, like positive test rates, ER visits and deaths, which have limitations due to how they’re collected.
This type of end-of-summer COVID swell is in line with previous years, said Dr. Philip Huang, Dallas County Health and Human Services director. Based on Dallas County-specific data, he said it looks to be coming down for now.
“It’s sort of like, we’ve gotten used to the seasonal pattern with flu,” Huang said. “And we see this seasonal pattern with COVID also.”
People gathering indoors in very hot weather, which generally affects Southern states more, could be a factor in the recent Texas spike, Huang said. “Waning immunity” is another potential reason.
Texas’ COVID vaccination rate plunged in both adults and children between 2025 and 2026, CDC data shows.
COVID vaccination rates dropped across the U.S. and Texas in 2026
Texas vaccine coverage has been consistently below the national average. In February 2026, less than 12% of Texas adults were vaccinated, compared to almost 18% nationwide. Child vaccination rates were even lower — less than 6% of children older than 6 months in Texas were up to date with their COVID vaccinations in 2026, compared with almost 9% nationwide.
The Food and Drug Administration approved 2026-27 COVID vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax in late August, which are projected to reach pharmacies by mid-September.
Huang recommends that older people, children and people with chronic illness get the vaccine, the “best protection” against both infection and serious health impacts.
“It’s still around,” Huang said. “And we still have hospitalizations and some people with severe illness, so it’s important to get that protection.”
Data Reporter
William is a data reporter at the Dallas Morning News. He previously interned at the Chicago Tribune and News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. William grew up in Illinois and graduated from Northwestern University.
Data Reporter
Julia is a data reporter at the Dallas Morning News. She previously covered breaking news and the weather at the DMN. She is a Louisiana native and a graduate of the University of Mississippi, where she studied journalism and public policy. Julia also covered K-12 education for Mississippi Today in Jackson, Miss.
