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Marshall County 26th in vaccinations

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO A healthcare worker handles a waste container as hospitals and emergency services distribute COVID-19 vaccines. Five hundred doses of the vaccine have been received in Marshall County this week.

Despite having the 15th largest population in Iowa, Marshall County has initiated the 26th most COVID-19 vaccination cycles.

According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, there have been 382,598 vaccine doses administered throughout the state and 366,109 have been to Iowa residents. Marshall County has given 1,754 first doses and completed 1,492 vaccinations.

The state’s data shows some disparities in the distribution of the vaccine compared to demographics and infections. The most recent census data, released in July 2019, shows the breakdown of Iowa’s population by race and ethnicity is 90.6 percent white, 4.1 percent African American, 0.5 percent American Indian or Alaskan Native, 2.7 percent Asian, 0.2 percent Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 6.3 percent Hispanic or Latin American and 2 percent two or more races.

Meanwhile 6 percent of infections have been in Hispanic or Latin Americans yet only 1.4 percent of vaccinations have been to this population.

Likewise, African Americans account for 3 percent of COVID-19 infections and only 1.05 percent of vaccinations. Caucasians represent 59 percent of infections and 76.13 percent of vaccinations.

Females have received the vaccine at a higher rate than males, 68.35 percent. Fifty-two percent of infections and more than 58 percent of assessments have been in females but 52 percent of deaths have been males.

In Iowa, 5,196 people have died from the virus including 22 since Wednesday. Marshall County has reported 69 deaths, up one in the last week, and 4,508 of Iowa’s 327,255 cases.

The county’s 7.4 percent average rate of positivity over the last 14 days is lower than the state’s, which is 8.4 percent.

Iowa hospitals have 273 COVID-19 patients, 177 with coronavirus infection as their primary diagnosis. Sixty-four people are in intensive care and 26 are on ventilators. In the last 24 hours, 32 people have been admitted to the hospital.

In the last week, the share of patients 29 years old or younger have increased greatly. About 13 percent of patients are 18-29 years old which is a 9 percent increase. Three percent of patients are 17 or younger, an increase of 1 percent.

Long-term care facilities have 38 active outbreaks. Thirty-six percent of residents have been symptomatic and 2,124 have died since the beginning of the pandemic.

In Marshall County, two facilities are still in outbreak status: Accura Healthcare of Marshalltown and Iowa Veterans Home. IDPH shows Accura with 10 active cases and IVH with 17.

Iowa is one of a handful of states feeling disproportionate effects from COVID-19.

According to a new report from USAFacts.org, Iowa represents 1 percent of the United States population. Yet the state counted for 1.6 percent of COVID-19 cases and 1.1 percent of deaths through December 15. About 1.6 percent of job losses in the U.S. were also in Iowa.

January was a deadlier month than December despite there being fewer cases throughout the country. About 3,000 people have died everyday since Jan. 1, totaling 94,185 in January alone. Altogether 459,437 people have died.

There have been 26.7 million accumulative cases in the U.S. including 94,432 new cases on Tuesday. The seven-day average is 106,551 cases per day.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s recent Household Pulse Survey — completed between Jan. 20 and Feb. 1 — reports more than 45 percent of adults who have not received a vaccine responded they are not likely to get it. Of more than 99 million who responded, 20.18 million don’t trust the COVID-19 vaccines and about 18 million don’t trust the government.

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Contact Joe Fisher at 641-753-6611 or jfisher@timesrepublican.com

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