Iowa news
Iowa to receive 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine this week
Iowa will receive more than 100,000 first-shot doses of COVID-19 vaccine this week, for the first time crossing the six-figure milestone for the much-coveted doses. The supply is bolstered by about 33,400 doses of vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson. That vaccine requires only one dose for full efficacy. That vaccine received federal emergency approval over the weekend. Those doses are in addition to Iowa’s expected receipt of about 85,000 first-shot doses of vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna, each of which require follow-up doses to reach full efficacy. Those second shots are allocated separately. (Des Moines Register)
Iowa pharmacy, nursing students help with COVID-19 vaccine rollout
Iowa pharmacy students are expected to be a shot in the arm to Iowa’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, especially in rural areas where there aren’t enough pharmacists. Marissa Stewart, a third-year pharmacy student at the University of Iowa, already has volunteered at vaccine clinics in Maquoketa and Solon and hopes to do more this spring since she’s done with core classes and won’t start pharmacy rotations until the fall. (The Gazette)
Hy-Vee is helping Polk County clear backlog of delayed COVID-19 booster shots
Hy-Vee pharmacies are helping the Polk County health department provide booster shots to more than 14,000 residents whose second-round vaccinations against COVID-19 were delayed last month. The problem surfaced in mid-February, when the county health department learned it was receiving less of the Moderna brand of the vaccine than it expected to get from the state, which is directing shipments from federal stocks. (Des Moines Register)
National news
WHO: ‘Premature,’ ‘unrealistic’ to say COVID-19 will end soon
A senior World Health Organization official said Monday it was “premature” and “unrealistic” to think the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year, but that the recent arrival of effective vaccines could at least help dramatically reduce hospitalizations and death. The world’s singular focus right now should be to keep transmission of COVID-19 as low as possible, said Dr. Michael Ryan, director of WHO’s emergencies program. (NBC News)
CDC director to states: Don’t roll back COVID-19 safety measures
As COVID-19 cases improve, the head of the CDC said she is “really worried” about states rolling back public health measures, according to a March 1 article published in CNBC. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, said in a March 1 news briefing that the US has declined to about 70,000 new COVID-19 cases each day. (Becker’s Hospital Review)
Here is how Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine differs from Pfizer’s and Moderna’s
A third effective weapon was added to America’s arsenal against the coronavirus when the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for a vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson. Millions of doses have been shipped already, and J&J will provide the US with 100 million doses by the end of June. Together with 600 million doses of the nation’s first two authorized vaccines, made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, that are due to be delivered over the next four months, that ought to be enough to cover every American adult who wants to be vaccinated. (The New York Times)