contributed photo Nearly half of Iowans have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine injection.

Nearly half of Iowans have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the New York Times reported.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reported more than 2.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Iowa. Well over a third, 38 percent, of Iowans had been fully vaccinated. That is 4 percentage points higher than the U.S. average.

Iowa’s daily average of new COVID cases fell 25 percent in the past two weeks, the Times reported. As of Sunday, the state averaged 314 cases a day. (Nationally, new cases dropped 30 percent in two weeks.)

The Washington Post reported Iowa’s daily average of new cases fell 15 percent in the past week.

Iowa had an average of 260 COVID patients in hospitals, up 17 percent over 14 days.

Over the weekend, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said it may be time to loosen indoor restrictions such as distancing and mask-wearing. But, he said, some people may decide to wear masks during flu season even after the pandemic.

As demand for vaccines has fallen, all but three Iowa counties turned down at least part of their state allotment of vaccine doses for this week, the state reported.

Since the pandemic started, Iowa has recorded 397,709 COVID-19 cases and 5,985 related deaths.

The United States has logged 32.7 million cases and 581,302 deaths. The U.S. has had the most cases and deaths by far. India, which is fighting a current surge, is second with 22.7 million cases and 246,116 deaths, CNN reported.