COVID-19 response

H-E-B pharmacies in Houston to open COVID-19 vaccine appointments

Pharmacy woman holding vaccine covid-19 coronavirus

H-E-B will open its appointment portal "in the coming days."

Photo courtesy of H-E-B

In early December, H-E-B announced it would take part in the unprecedented rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. Now, the San Antonio-based grocer is preparing to open its vaccine scheduler tool to the public at its pharmacies across Texas, including Houston.

In a January 11 news release, the grocery chain said it has requested and is awaiting another allocation of vaccine from the State of Texas. Though the exact timeline is not known, H-E-B says it once it receives those doses, it will activate its online scheduling tool "in the coming days," so those who fall into the 1B category can begin to request appointments.

"H-E-B has strong capacity to administer vaccine, however that depends on the quantity of Covid-19 vaccine allocated to us from the state of Texas," the grocer said in a release.

Currently, the Texas Department of State Health Services has approved vaccines for healthcare workers (1A) and those over 65 or those over 16 with one or more chronic medical condition (1B). Exactly who is eligible to receive the vaccine may soon change. On January 12, the Trump Administration said it will recommend giving a coronavirus vaccine to everyone over 65 in the country in an effort to speed up the sluggish, bumbled rollout of the vaccine.

Individuals who fall into either of these categories should note that appointments should only be made through the portal, and walk-ups will not be accepted. Healthcare providers with groups larger than 30 should email wellnessservices@heb.com to schedule an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Following the directive from the state, our pharmacies will vaccinate people identified in Phase 1B if we have doses left after prioritizing healthcare providers in Phase 1A who are waiting to receive the vaccine," H-E-B said.

Each vial contains 10 doses of the COVID-19 dose that must be used within hours of opening. Once healthcare workers (that 1A category) have been prioritized, the government has authorized distributors to not waste doses, but rather give them to those in the next category.

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H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houston made a big leap back into the top 50, ranking No. 40, after previously plummeting into No. 72 last year.

Lively Houston has regained its rightful place among the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Houston the 40th best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Houston made a major rebound after plummeting to No. 73 in last year's report. In 2022, Houston ranked No. 42.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Houston in the top 10 – when explaining the Bayou City's successes. The report praised Houston's vast cultural diversity and placed a great focus on its economic prosperity, even going so far as to suggest Houston residents make more money "and can sock more away."

"...[W]here America’s fourth-largest city truly takes off is in its economic heft and wealth, ranking No. 9 globally for GDP per Capita and No. 14 for Fortune 500 companies in town," the report said. "All that rolls up into an overall Prosperity index ranking of No. 36, which is even more impressive given the No. 14-ranked Price-to Income Ratio [of the city]."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also earned spots on the World's Best Cities list for 2025, but only one made a similar rebound from the previous year's rankings. Dallas moved up from No. 66 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55. Meanwhile, Austin took its first tumble out of the 43rd spot (which it had occupied for two years straight) and now ranks No. 53.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).