Iowa news
UnityPoint Health-Trinity announces Medicine in the Barbershop
UnityPoint Health-Trinity is taking a different approach to provide access to health information, resources and education, and be the location of health screenings and in-person provider education. The health station, part of the Medicine in the Barbershop partnership between UPH-Trinity and 4 Sher Cut & Style, is intended to help advance health and wellness for African-American men while offering a health access point for clients of the barbershop. (Quad City Times)
Iowa farmers continue to face mental health challenges during COVID-19 pandemic
Nearly a year into the pandemic, experts say many of Iowa’s farmers are at a higher risk for mental health challenges. A poll released by the American Farm Bureau last month found two out of three farmers and farmworkers said the pandemic has affected their mental health. David Brown, a behavioral health state specialist with the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, said he’s optimistic that a recent increase in government support for farmers will take some pressure off. But he said many farmers have really struggled in the past year. (Iowa Public Radio)
COVID-19 cases decline among vaccinated health care workers in Cedar Rapids
Though the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is making its way into the community slowly so far, the effects of the inoculations seem to already be having a local impact on the spread of the virus. In the two months since front-line health care workers began receiving the vaccine, UnityPoint Health-Cedar Rapids officials say they are seeing a reduction of the number of new cases among their staff. Health system officials say data they’ve collected shows a distinct difference in infection rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated team members as soon as two weeks after the first doses were administered to health care workers. (The Gazette)
National news
Four million J&J COVID-19 vaccines ship out, Americans expected to receive shots within two days
Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine began shipping out Monday morning, and Americans should begin getting the single-dose shot within the next day or two, the company’s CEO said. The vaccine is “on trucks as we’re talking,” Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said Monday. (NBC News)
People who’ve had COVID-19 might only need to get one dose of vaccine, studies suggest
Six recent studies suggest that people who’ve already come down with COVID-19 might not need to get a second vaccine dose. The federal government has not changed its recommendation for a second dose, but studies that look at the immune response show that while a first shot gives people who’ve recovered from COVID-19 a huge boost, the second shot makes little difference. (USA Today)
The coronavirus is threatening a comeback. Here’s how to stop it.
Across the United States, and the world, the coronavirus seems to be loosening its stranglehold. The deadly curve of cases, hospitalizations and deaths has yo-yoed before, but never has it plunged so steeply and so fast. Is this it, then? Is this the beginning of the end? After a year of being pummeled by grim statistics and scolded for wanting human contact, many Americans feel a long-promised deliverance is at hand. (The New York Times)