OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma's deputy health commissioner says the next phase of people eligible for the coronavirus vaccine will be able to schedule vaccinations starting next week. Keith Reed said Tuesday that the group includes people in prisons and at homeless shelters in addition to city, county and state officials and public health staff that support front-line health care workers. Reed said nearly 1.2 million Oklahomans have received at least one vaccination and more than 426,000 are fully vaccinated. The state health department reports a total of 427,558 virus cases and 7,202 deaths due to COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

NEW BOSTON, Texas (AP) — A Texas woman facing murder and kidnapping charges in the death of a pregnant woman and removal of the baby from the victim's womb now faces a second murder charge. The Texarkana Gazette reports that a Bowie County grand jury on Thursday indicted 28-year-old Taylor Parker for murder in the death of the child. Parker is charged in the deaths of 21-year-old Regan Michelle Simmons-Hancock and her unborn daughter, who died at an Oklahoma hospital where she was taken after a Texas state trooper stopped Parker near the Oklahoma state line and found the baby in Parker's lap.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission says the amount of unemployment payments since the coronavirus began a year ago has surpassed the amount paid during the past 10 years combined. The OESC on Thursday reported more than $4.4 billion in jobless payments since March 2020, nearly $1.5 billion more than all payments during the past decade. The state reached a high of 14.7% jobless in April during a shutdown ordered by Gov. Kevin Stitt in an effort to stem the spread of the virus. The shutdown lifted in May. The state health department reports 895 new virus cases for a total of 426,641 since the pandemic began.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former Oklahoma City Zoo employee has been sentenced to probation and community service after pleading guilty to trafficking stolen Galapagos tortoise hatchlings. Federal prosecutors announced the sentence Thursday for Joshua Taylor Lucas of Austin, Texas. Lucas pleaded guilty to a felony wildlife trafficking count. The former assistant curator of herpetology at the Oklahoma City Zoo admitted stealing several hatchlings while working at the zoo and shipping them to a Nevada man. An attorney for Lucas didn't immediately return a message seeking comment on the sentence.

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