Iowa news
UIHC joins nationwide COVID-19 vaccine campaign as demand for the shot decreases
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics has announced it is joining with 60 of the nation’s top health care providers to encourage more Iowans to get the COVID-19 vaccine, as demand for the vaccine starts to decline. The nationwide campaign is called “Get the Vaccine to Save Lives.” It includes high-profile clinics like the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic and will use print and digital advertising, social media and an informational website to encourage people to get vaccinated. The campaign will specifically target groups that have higher hesitancy rates for getting vaccinated, like certain ethnic minority groups and those living in rural areas. (Iowa Public Radio)
Iowa turns down 22,000 of its vaccine doses as demand wanes
Iowa has asked the federal government to withhold more than one-quarter of its allotment of coronavirus vaccines this week because demand for the shots has waned across the state. The state allotment of vaccines doesn’t include thousands of doses that are being distributed directly through a number of pharmacies and clinics in Iowa as part of a federal program. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said nearly 55% of Iowa adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine and more than 40% have been fully vaccinated against the disease. (KCCI)
Following Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request, Iowa House advances bill to limit ‘vaccine passports’
Iowa’s local governments and businesses could lose future state grants and contracts if they require customers or other visitors to prove they are vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a bill advancing in the Legislature. The bill, House File 889, would also prohibit state or local governments from including a person’s COVID-19 vaccination status on an identification card. The House Judiciary Committee advanced the bill out of both subcommittee and committee Monday afternoon, a first step toward fulfilling Gov. Kim Reynolds’ call earlier this month to ban the so-called vaccine passports. (Des Moines Register)
National news
US to share 60 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine with other countries
The United States plans to ship its stockpile of millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses overseas, a move aimed at helping other countries struggling with a lack of doses to vaccinate their populations. White House COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt said in a tweet Monday that 60 million doses of the vaccine would be sent to other countries “as soon as they become available.” (NBC News)
1 in 3 Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19
One-third of US adults were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of April 22, and more than half had received at least one dose, according to the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review published April 23. The US had administered more than 218.9 million total vaccine doses as of April 22. About 135.8 million people have received at least one dose — representing 40.9% of the US population, and more than 89.2 million people have gotten both doses, about 26.9% of the population. The seven-day average number of COVID-19 vaccines administered daily was 2.9 million as of April 15, a 12% decrease from the previous week’s average. (Becker’s Hospital Review)
Can regular at-home testing slow the spread of COVID-19?
The program, which is simultaneously being launched in Chattanooga, Tennessee, asks participants to use the tests as a screening tool, testing themselves three times a week — frequent enough to catch an infection and begin isolating before they can spread it. Participants are not required to report their results, but CDC and NIH scientists will be watching the county’s case numbers, hospitalization rates and even examining wastewater for traces of the virus, looking for any signs that infections are declining — an indicator that the program is working. (NBC News)