Today’s NewsStand

Today’s NewsStand

By Iowa Hospital Association|
|April 9, 2021

Iowa news

Opinion: COVID-19 menace persists today, including for those who dismiss vaccines

Want to know what can happen if you refuse a COVID-19 vaccination? Ask a local ER doctor. Dr. Tom Benzoni, an Iowa emergency room physician, told an editorial writer about a man who came to the hospital last week because he was struggling to breathe. The patient was old enough to have been eligible for a coronavirus vaccine in February. But he hadn’t wanted one. He said he didn’t believe in them. His body disagreed. The man tested positive for COVID-19. His oxygen level was low. His lungs sounded wet and sticky. He was admitted to the hospital, while his wife sat nearby, looking sad. (Des Moines Register)

It takes all kinds to make Mason City COVID-19 mass vaccination site go

The COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic that Cerro Gordo Public Health operates in Mason City couldn’t process hundreds of north Iowa residents, multiple times a week, for their primary and boost doses, if not for its volunteer base of at least 200. At any time, there are 40-50 volunteers at the clinic with about 10 staff members doing everything from checking information to giving out those vaccination cards people proudly show on social media to filling syringes with vaccine allotment. (Globe Gazette)

Maps and charts: Coronavirus in Iowa

The maps and charts linked above reflect the Iowa Department of Public Health counts of coronavirus cases within counties, county testing rates, percent positive testing rates over 14 days, current hospitalizations and deaths. Hover over or, on a phone, press the individual counties or bars or line points on the charts to see additional data. Iowa’s first positive COVID-19 cases were publicly identified March 8, 2020, after three Johnson County residents who had been on a cruise ship in Egypt tested positive for the virus. (The Gzaette)

 

National news

CDC data on adverse effects of vaccine cannot determine cause

More than 108.3 million people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of April, but some antivaccine groups are using federal data to suggest those inoculations are unsafe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found “reassuring” results in a study of adverse effects during the first month the vaccine was distributed. But claims circulating on social media point to the CDC’s national early warning system used to detect possible safety problems with vaccines as evidence of their danger. One Instagram post claimed a “6000% increase in reported vaccine deaths” in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020. (USA Today)

Johnson and Johnson vaccine deliveries are about to take big dip in US

Johnson and Johnson will allocate 86% fewer doses across the US next week than are currently being allocated, according to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just as the national vaccination campaign has found its footing. The distribution of the single-shot vaccine has been inconsistent since Johnson and Johnson delivered its first batch at the beginning of March, sending 2.8 million doses nationwide before dipping below 400,000 in the following weeks. (The New York Times)

Young people are driving the latest COVID-19 surge

They’re young, they’re restless, and they’re driving the latest wave of COVID-19 cases nationwide. Fed up with pandemic restrictions and lulled into a false sense of security by the increasing rate of vaccinations, coronavirus wards at local hospitals are increasingly being populated by younger, still-unvaccinated adults who’ve let their guard down, the nation’s top public health experts are warning. (NBC News)

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