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News and resources regarding COVID-19

NEWS 1.27.21: IA Gov. Addresses C-19 Vaccine Shortage, Local School District Plan and More

CDC

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says the state will get a boost in COVID-19 vaccine starting next week, however demand still far exceeds the current supply.

Iowa currently receives enough doses to vaccinate about 19 thousand Iowans per week. 

Gov. Kim Reynolds said starting next week that number should increase by 16%.

But the number is still far below the amount needed to vaccinate Iowans in the next phase. This includes those ages 65 and older as well as first responders, child care workers, and school staff, a total of more than 600,000 people. 

The Superintendent of the Sioux City Community School District hopes to start receiving the vaccine for his staff in early February and already has a plan in place for distribution.

“Those working close with the students and working with more people will be first in line to receive the vaccine. We’re going to vaccinate the nurses first because they will be the ones vaccinating everyone else.”

That’s Dr. Paul Gausman who says with current vaccine projection, it could take three months to cover all teachers and staff. But, if a new vaccine by Johnson and Johnson is approved by the FDA for emergency use, that would ease the crunch and require only one dose instead of two.

Officials with Siouxland District Health expect to finish distributing the first dose of vaccine to health care workers this week and then focus on people 65 and older. 

Meanwhile, COVID-19 rates continue to fall in Woodbury County. The 14-day test positivity rate now stands at 8.7% and has fallen steadily for the past few weeks. The number of deaths has stayed at 181 for five days.

Credit Siouxland District Health

On Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported 8 additional deaths due to complications of COVID-19, raising the death toll to 4,500.

South Dakota health officials say they expect to receive more doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the coming weeks, after President Biden’s pledge to deliver more medicine to states. Officials said the state should start to receive an additional 1,700 doses, which would up the weekly number of doses to about 12,800. State epidemiologist Joshua Clayton said 117,725 vaccine doses have been sent to the state so far, including everything that was “just recently received.” The latest figures show that about 82,000 doses had been administered and just over 60,000 people had received at least one dose. About 24,000 people have received both shots

IERRE, S.D. (AP) — A House bill endorsed by both parties seeks to disclose the security costs for Gov. Kristi Noem’s travel on behalf of former President Donald Trump’s campaign last year. Requests for the information by The Associated Press and other media outlets have been rejected with officials citing security concerns. Republican Rep. Taffy Howard says the proposed legislation would not only require future costs to be disclosed, but would be applied retroactively to Noem’s security costs during her travel across the country on behalf of Trump and other Republicans. 

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem would support using a grand jury to decide whether charges should be filed against the state's attorney general, who struck and killed a man along a highway in September. Noem has been critical of the fact no decision has been made by prosecutors on whether Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg should face criminal charges in the Sept. 12 collision that took the life of 55-year-old Joseph Boever along Highway 14 west of Highmore. Prosecutors can use grand juries to file charges. Ravnsborg has said he assumed he hit a deer, but that he discovered Boever’s body the next morning when he returned to the scene. Ravnsborg has said he didn't commit a crime.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has pitched his property tax proposal to a legislative committee, and he warns that voters might take the issue into their own hands if lawmakers don’t cap how much local governments can collect each year. The Republican governor’s measure won support from a prominent farming organization and conservative groups in a legislative hearing, but faced opposition from cities, counties and school advocates who say it would undermine local control. The proposed ballot measure would limit the growth of local property tax collections to 3% per year. Voter-approved bond measures would be excluded.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson says state officials are taking new steps to support people who have experienced sexual abuse. Peterson says state officials and child advocates are offering training to law enforcement agencies on how to investigate child sexual abuse and sex trafficking cases. They’ve also created a sexual assault forensic kit tracking website, which allows kits to be tracked at every step to ensure they aren’t lost or forgotten. Peterson says there are a lot of dedicated law enforcement and child advocacy organizations and community supporters who understand the victims need to be recognized and supported.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration arranged coronavirus testing for employees at the suburban office of a large pork company whose owners are her top donors. One Polk County supervisor says the July 13 testing at the administrative office of Iowa Select Farms in West Des Moines looks like special treatment for a campaign donor. Owners Jeff and Deb Hansen have donated nearly $300,000 to Reynolds’ campaigns for governor, including a $175,000 check in 2017 and a $50,000 donation last month. Company spokeswoman Jen Sorenson said Iowa Select sought the state’s help with testing after “a number of individuals were found to be potentially exposed to a positive employee.” Reynolds says companies who requested testing were not turned down.

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