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COVID-19

Gov. Reynolds expects increased vaccine allocation

JOHNSTON — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday the federal government is promising states a 17 percent increase in one of the vaccines the state receives starting in early February, potentially boosting the number of shots available amid frustration that eligible people have been unable to get vaccinated. Reynolds said officials in President Joe Biden’s administration promised governors in a call Tuesday that the federal government would increase state allocations to accelerate the national vaccination program. The increased federal supply would raise Iowa’s weekly doses of ...

Democrats prep Biden’s virus aid package with or without GOP

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are preparing to push ahead quickly on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package even if it means using procedural tools to pass the legislation on their own, leaving Republicans behind. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told senators ...

More than 40% of IVH workers refuse vaccine

The leader of the Iowa Veterans Home says that despite participating in “educational seminars” on the COVID-19 vaccine, more than 40 percent of the nursing facility’s workers are still refusing the vaccine. Many of the workers at the state-run facility are state-licensed or state-certified health care providers tasked with caring for an elderly population for whom the coronavirus is particularly dangerous. According to state and federal data, 1,866 of the 4,492 Iowans who have died of coronavirus — that’s 42 percent of the total — were residents of nursing homes like the ...

Report: Fewer than half Iowa Veterans Home workers given COVID-19 vaccine

Fewer than half the workers at the Iowa Veterans Home have received the coronavirus vaccine, according to the American Legion of Iowa. The Legion reported in its Jan. 16 newsletter that only 444 of the state-run home’s 904 workers received their first shot in the two-dose series when ...

Iowa reclaims title as state with the lowest rate of COVID-19 testing

The Washington Post reported Monday that Iowa has reclaimed its status as the state with the lowest rate of testing in the nation. On a per capita basis, Iowa currently ranks last in testing among the 50 states, administering 586 tests for every 100,000 residents over the past seven days, according to the Post’s database. Only Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa have a lower rate of testing. When the states are ranked by the raw number of tests given, Iowa ranks third from the bottom, behind South Dakota and Idaho. The number of tests that are administered ...

Iowa virus patient ‘didn’t give up,’ released after 65 days

GUTTENBERG — Cheers and Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” rang through the halls of Guttenberg Municipal Hospital on Jan. 15 as staff bid adieu to their longest COVID-19 patient. Royce Hansel, 76, of Elkader, was released after a 65-day stay. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Nov. 8 and checked into the hospital just days later. “I feel super,” Hansel told the Telegraph Herald as he was preparing to leave. “I couldn’t ask for better people to take care of me. I can’t say enough about them.” Hospital staff lined the halls and held homemade signs as Hansel was pushed ...