Texans have been slow to vaccinate their youngest against COVID-19, but they’re slightly ahead of the national average

Mary Douglas injects Huaijin Zhang, 5, with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston on June 28. (Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune)

Caitlin Chmiel was furious and worried when her 2-year-old tested positive for COVID-19 the week the federal government approved vaccines for the nation’s youngest kids in mid-June — when quicker action meant her daughter might have been vaccinated and had more protection against the virus.

Born seven weeks premature in March 2020, Chmiel’s daughter spent her first 19 days of life in pandemic lockdown in a neonatal intensive care unit. When she was able to leave the hospital, she entered into an uncertain world that was masked and defensive against COVID-19. And her parents spent the next two years counting the days until they could protect their frail daughter from it, too.