With Low Demand, 43 Iowa Counties Decline COVID Vaccine Shipments

Ottumwa Courier

A lack of demand has caused 43 counties in Iowa to decline new doses of COVID-19 vaccines. The state has asked counties to decline allocations when they can't ensure that all allocated doses would be administered. Counties can also request only a partial allocation.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday vaccinations are a key factor in returning to normal by the fall, and asked family members to encourage other family members to get vaccinated. The state, Reynolds said, will continue to focus on providing vaccination opportunities to college-aged students, hoping to inoculate that group of Iowans before they return home from school.

The first COVID-19 vaccine became available in December, with two others authorized by the Food and Drug Administration since. The supply of the vaccines was initially the concern. Once members of the general public started becoming eligible, appointments were scarce, often snatched up minutes after becoming available.

That has changed. Despite all Iowans over the age of 16 being eligible to receive the vaccine, appointments are now plentiful.

Iowa Vaccine Alerts, a Twitter account operated by Iowa City web developer Brian Finley that tracks vaccine appointments, tweeted yesterday his account's usefulness is fading as appointments become more available. The automated account showed most Hy-Vee pharmacies in Iowa had available time slots, as did many other pharmacies. As of Wednesday morning, Ottumwans could book appointments at their local Walmart, Walgreens and Hy-Vee pharmacies. Appointments were also available at Hy-Vees in Albia and Bloomfield.

Vaccine hesitancy is believed to be part of the reason, according to Wapello County's emergency management director Tim Richmond. However, he said there is also some misinformation about cost he believes may play a role.

The COVID-19 vaccines come at no cost to those receiving them. Some pharmacies ask for insurance information and will collect an administration fee from the insurance company. However, no patient is charged any money to receive the vaccines. The costs of the vaccine are covered by the government.

Of the area counties declining vaccine shipments this week, Appanoose has done the best at vaccinating. State data reports that about 26.5% of residents in the county have received all required doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and about 6.6% of the population has received the first dose.

While above the state average, those numbers are far off what experts say is required to reach herd immunity through the vaccine. That plateau is between 75%-80% of a population being inoculated, they say.

Wapello County has completed vaccination series for 24.1% of its residents as of Wednesday, or a total of 8,412. Another 2,923 have received their first dose.

Van Buren County ranks among the worst counties in the state, though 20.6% of its residents have been vaccinated.

Iowa has now given 2,006,106 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to Iowa residents, which is 16,281 more than the prior day. As of Wednesday, the state has given one dose of the vaccine to roughly 12% of its population. About 28.4% have received both doses.

The number of residents receiving all required doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in area counties include 4,574 in Jefferson, 3,288 in Appanoose, 1,970 in Monroe, 1,813 in Davis and 1,452 in Van Buren.

New state data on Wednesday showed another 631 individuals were positive for the coronavirus. There were two new cases reported in Jefferson, two in Monroe and one in Wapello on Wednesday.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reported another seven deaths caused by the virus. The state regularly reports deaths on a delay, taking days and weeks to add deaths publicly after a verification process. To date, there have been 5,893 deaths reported in Iowa.