Today, Legislators had a call with Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt to discuss COVID-19. He made it very clear we are again at a CRITICAL point. We are seeing a surge of COVID cases and hospitalizations across the nation, and Texas is NO EXCEPTION! The Delta variant is more transmissible, more deadly, and individuals with underlying vulnerabilities are at higher risk of severe infection and death. 95-99% of those currently hospitalized are unvaccinated. The slides below prove that the vaccine works. We cannot eliminate this terrible and deadly disease without more individuals in our state getting the vaccine.