Courtesy of coronavirus.iowa.gov
News noon 081321
Yesterday, it was reported that the FDA granted emergency approval for some people to receive a third dose of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for COVID. Siouxland District Health’s Tyler Brock says while that’s an important decision, it’s only one step in the process and a few other steps need to occur before booster doses will start being administered. Brock says the CDC and Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices need to determine whether to change CDC’s current recommendations.
Brock says more information will be coming soon.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said data from other countries that have battled the delta variant of the coronavirus show that such a spike in Iowa could decline "relatively quickly."
The Des Moines Register reportst aht Reynolds acknowledged COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across the state are rising as the more transmissible variant of the virus continues to spread. But she said vaccinations are helping prevent more people from experiencing severe symptoms and coronavirus cases are a much lower percentage of hospitalizations than during the state's peak late last year.
Late Wednesday night, the Iowa Department of Public Healthreported 355 people hospitalized in Iowa with COVID-19, an increase of approximately 66% from the week before. The total number of new cases this week, 4,872, was the highest since mid-February, when Iowa was on its way down from its winter surge.
Winnebago health officials announced the death of a community member Thursday due to the delta variant. Twelve Clans Unity Hospital said in a statement, that it has been confirmed that this individual did have the Delta COVID-19 variant, which is more contagious than previous strains of COVID-19. According to a report from the hospital, as of Thursday, there were two active cases of the novel coronavirus on the reservation and two households in quarantine. Last month, the Winnebago Tribal Council voted to reinstate a mask mandate on the reservation to limit the spread of the virus.
