testing available

City of Houston's COVID-19 testing and immunization sites open with appointments available

Get your tests today.

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With COVID-19 and Omicron cases spiking in Houston and Harris County and the threat level raised to orange, locals are scrambling for testing sites — and coming up short. The City of Houston is stepping up with the announcement that its various testing sites are open and accepting patients.

Houston Health Department-affiliated COVID-19 testing sites are open across the city with capacity to test at least 19,000 people daily. Those interested can visit HoustonHealth.org or call 832-393-4220 to find a nearby free testing site. The City notes in a press release that the website will update should individual sites reach capacity.

Testing and vaccination at Houston Health Department-affiliated sites is free and does not require proof of residency, citizenship, or insurance.

Houston Health Department
Houston Health Department testing sites are open until 5 pm on Wednesday, December 22 and 9 am to 5 pm Thursday, December 23 from 9 am to 5 pm. Notably, these sites do not require appointments; appointments are available via www.hhdvaccinations.org or by calling 832-393-4220. Each site can handle approximately 250 daily tests.

Acres Homes Multi-Service Center, 6719 W. Montgomery Rd, 77091
Hiram Clark Multi-Service Center, 3810 Fuqua St, 77045
Magnolia Multi-Service Center, 7037 Capitol St., 77011
Southwest Multi-Service Center, 6400 High Star Dr. 77074

Curative
Appointments for Curative walk-up testing kiosks are available at curative.com with walk-ups welcome. These sites are open from 8 am to 6 pm through Thursday, December 23 — unless otherwise noted. Curatives sites can handle approximately 800 tests each, per the company.

Beltway South, 11601 S. Sam Houston Pkwy, 77089
Fe Y Justicia Worker Center, 1209 James St., 77009
First Transit, 5555 Deauville Plaza Dr., 77092
Hearthstone Corners Shopping Center, 6016 Highway 6 North, 77084
Hermann Park (Miller Outdoor Theatre), 6000 Hermann Park Dr., 77030
Jones Square, 10955 FM 1960 West, 77070
Maplewood, 5645 Beechnut, 77096
Memorial Drive-Presbyterian Church, 11612 Memorial Drive, 77024
METRO Fallbrook, 111 Fallbrook Dr., 77038
METRO Fannin South, 1604 W. Belfort Blvd., 77054
METRO Hiram Clark, 4175 Uptown Dr., 77045
METRO Kashmere, 5700 Eastex Fwy., 77026
METRO Polk, 5700 Polk St., 77023
METRO West, 11555 Westpark Dr., 77082
Northshore Shopping Center, 1238 Uvalde Rd., 77015
Orange Grove Parking Lot, 10225 Almeda Genoa Rd., 77075
Tanglewilde Center, 9529 Westheimer, 77063
Telephone Road Center Kiosk, 3337 Telephone Rd., 77023
University of Houston-Downtown, 201 Girard St., 77002
University of St. Thomas, 1300 Richmond Ave. 77006 (9 am– 5 pm)
Vida City Church, 1300 W. Mount Houston Rd., 77038 (9 am–5 pm)

United Memorial Medical Center
These sites do not require appointments and are open from 8 am to 3 pm through Friday, December 24. Visit ummcscreening.com/testing-locations for additional UMMC sites not listed below. UMMC sites have capacity for approximately 550 daily tests, per a release.

Houston Community College - Southeast Campus, 6815 Rustic, St., 77087
PlazAmericas, 7500 Bellaire Blvd., 77036
United Memorial Medical Center, 510 W Tidwell Rd., 77091

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Unhappy holidays

Porch pirates swipe nearly $2B in packages from Texas homes this year

Porch Pirate Person in Glasses Steals Packages

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The Grinch isn't the only one stealing Christmas these days.

’Tis the season for porch pirates. If past trends are an indicator, the Grinch will swipe close to $2 billion worth of packages delivered to Texas households this year, with many of those thefts happening ahead of the holiday season.

An analysis of FBI and survey data by ecommerce marketing company Omnisend shows porch pirates stole more than $1.8 billion worth of packages from Texans’ porches last year. Porch pirates hit nearly one-third of the state’s households in 2024, according to the analysis.

Omnisend’s analysis reveals these statistics about porch piracy in Texas:

30.1 million residential package thefts in 2024.
An average household loss of $169 per year.
An annual average of 2.9 package thefts per household.

“Most stolen items are cheap on their own, but add them up, and retailers and consumers are facing an enormous bill,” says Omnisend.

Another data analysis, this one from The Action Network sports betting platform, unwraps different figures regarding porch piracy in Texas.

The platform’s 2025 Porch Pirate Index ranks Texas as the state with the highest volume of residential thefts, based on 2023-24 FBI data.

Researchers at The Action Network uncovered 26,293 reports of personal property thefts at Texas residences during that period. The network’s survey data indicates 5 percent of Texas residents had a package stolen in the three months before the pre-holiday survey.

The Porch Pirate Index calculates a 25.8 percent risk of a Texas household being victimized by porch pirates, putting it in the No. 5 spot among states with the highest risk of porch piracy.

The Action Network included online-search volume for terms like “package stolen” and “porch pirates.” Sustained spikes in these searches suggest that “people are actively looking for guidance after something has happened. Search trends serve as an early warning system, revealing emerging-risk areas well before annual crime statistics are released,” the network says.

Tips to avoid being a victim
So, how do you prevent porch pirates from snatching packages that end up on your porch? Omnisend, The Action Network and Amazon offer these eight tips:

Closely monitor deliveries and quickly retrieve packages.
Schedule deliveries for times when you’ll be home.
Use delivery lockers or in-store pickup when possible.
Ask delivery services to hide packages in out-of-sight spots outside your home.
Install a visible doorbell camera or security camera.
Coordinate deliveries with neighbors or building managers if you’ll be away from your home when packages are supposed to arrive.
Request that delivery services hold your packages if you can’t be home when they’re scheduled to come.
Illuminate the path to your doorstep and keep porch lights on.

holidays porch pirates crime