Statewide Iowa — The one-year anniversary of the first cases of COVID-19 being reported in the state was this past Monday and Governor Kim Reynolds says Iowa is about to hit another, more positive milestone. It’s projected the one-millionth Iowan will be vaccinated against the virus sometime in the next few days.
(As above) “As of yesterday, the CDC reported that Iowa had administered more than 952,000 doses, 18 and up. That’s 27% of the population, we’re 10th in the nation,” Reynolds says, “and 298,000 second doses, so it’s 13% of Iowans have been fully vaccinated and we rank 27th in the country.”
Getting scheduled for an appointment is still a challenge, so the governor says Iowans 65 and older can now call 2-1-1 to talk with a “vaccine navigator” to get scheduled for a shot.
(As above) “We’ve projected that 70% of our first responders, our child care providers and our K-12 teachers have received at least one dose,” the governor says, “and more than 90% of our long-term care residents will be complete with their second dose by the end of the month.”
Reynolds says almost 94-percent of Iowans who are 65 and older have gotten at least their first dose of a vaccine. Next week, nearly 95-thousand first doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are headed to Iowa. State officials say Iowa could get four-thousand doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine as well.
(As above) “And this week, one year from our first confirmed cases in Iowa, we’re on track to vaccine the one-millionth Iowan,” Reynolds says.
Census data indicates there are about two-point-one MILLION adults in the state. More than 18-thousand Iowans have received the new, single dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Reynolds says they are among the 160-thousand Iowans who work in food processing, ag production and manufacturing companies or who live in communal settings that are on the state’s initial list for the Johnson and Johnson shots.
(As above) “Many companies have already arranged to host vaccination clinics for their workforce with their local public health departments or local Hy-Vee pharmacies,” Reynolds says, “so we’ll continue to make progress even as we wait for our Johnson & Johnson vaccine allocations to resume and stabilize.”
In the past week, 51 Iowa companies have hosted mass vaccination clinics for employees. Reynolds says a large segment of the state’s population is now eligible for a vaccination in many counties. That’s because state officials announced late Thursday that smokers and Iowans with medical conditions like asthma and diabetes can sign up to get a shot. Reynolds isn’t ready to open vaccinations for all Iowans.
(As above) “I think we have a good process in place,” Reynolds says, “and as we see those numbers continue to increase and we continue to open up and vaccine more and more Iowans, we’ll take that next step.”
And the governor says it’s perfectly fine for eligible Iowans to go outside of their home county to get a shot if they’re unable to schedule one close to where they live.
