Reynolds: More vaccines coming

WASHINGTON - Gov. Kim Reynolds said Iowa will be received more vaccines in the coming weeks and hopes to have a singular place to schedule a vaccine appointment. She said in the meantime, she expects Iowans will 'continue to do the right thing.”

During a meeting with Washington area leaders, Todd Patterson, CEO of Washington County Hospitals and Clinics asked Reynolds how she is helping increase the supply of vaccinations.

Reynolds said Iowa is being allocated vaccines on a per capita basis. She said Iowa has no control of the amount of vaccines received.

She said she spoke with both the Trump and Biden administrations about the vaccine rollout.

At the beginning, Reynolds said Iowa was one of the 24 states that was over allocated vaccine distribution. The state had planned its strategy for rollout based on the number and it was changed, she said.

Reynolds said Iowa is expected to see a 5 percent increase this week.

'What's really going to be significant for us and we're starting to see some of that roll in and that's why our numbers are much, much better,” she said.

She said Iowa went from 47th in the country for vaccine rollout to 26th.

The reason it was low was because of long-term care facilities, she said. She added on a per capita basis Iowa has more nursing homes than most other states, in the top five.

'It was just not a good rollout,” she said. 'They will admit it, every other governor has been pulling their hair out. It just wasn't run as smoothly as it should have.”

She said there is a plan to increase the allocation every week for three weeks.

'By mid-March we're going to see our allocations ramp up,” she said.

In the next two weeks, Reynolds said they hope to have the online COVID-19 vaccine scheduling system online.

The system was designed by Microsoft to be a 'one-stop-shop,” Reynolds said.

'You can go on, put in your information once, then on the back end we'll see who has vaccines available in a 60-mile radius of where you're at and can help with some of that scheduling,” she said.

She mentioned the retail pharmacy rollout.

Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Networks and Hy-Vee are given a total of 10,000 doses, she said. If they're able to distribute those, the numbers and allocations will go up.

By March she hopes to get allocations of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which if approved, is a one-time dose.

Reynolds said it took a little while for people to understand the allocations and figure out how to administer it. She said she does not believe Iowa is far from moving to the next phase of vaccinations.

When the state is ready for the next phase, Reynolds said, officials will work with local processing plants and make sure the food supply chain is running.

'We have several businesses that have reached out, and we're working through what they need to do so we know the numbers, we know how many are interested, we know how many need to be allocated,” she said.

Reynolds said the trajectory of COVID-19 cases look good, and she is proud of where Iowa is in controlling the number of new cases.

She said she has been consistent with restrictions, stating they increase and decrease accordingly. She said Iowa has been balanced in its approach to the restrictions.

'I am not advocating you go out there and be carefree, I'm advocating that you continue to do what our local public health and our department of public health at the state is recommending,” she said.

She said after a year, people know what's going on, and the message hasn't changed. She said businesses know what to do and will take care of their employees.

'They're going to make sure their environment is safe so that patrons feel comfortable coming in and utilizing their facilities,” Reynolds said.

She said the restrictions are partially based on hospitalization numbers.

The numbers have gone from 1,517 at peak to under 300, she said, adding that yesterday was an all-time low.

She said at the end of the month, of those who want it, all of the nursing home and long-term facility residents will have been vaccinated.

With the vaccine available, Reynolds said people still need to be conscientious of their surroundings and 'continue to do the right thing.”

'I have full faith in Iowans they will do that,” she said.