JOHNSTON, Iowa — Gov. Kim Reynolds confirmed Wednesday that Iowa will receive an additional 6,300 COVID-19 vaccine doses starting next week.
The Biden administration announced Tuesday Iowa will get a 17% increase in the Moderna vaccine, according to the Associated Press.
The increased federal supply would raise Iowa’s weekly doses of the Moderna vaccine to 25,800 a week for at least three weeks beginning Feb. 1, the AP reports.
The Iowa Department of Public Health confirmed the increase with Local 5 Thursday. The state will receive 19,500 Pfizer doses with that shipment.
"Yesterday, I had the opportunity to join governors from across the nation for what will be a weekly conference call with members of the Biden administration regarding the state of the pandemic and the plan to accelerate vaccination," Reynolds said.
"Even with the positive news, and that is, I just want to remind Iowans that the vaccine supply will still remain limited for quite some time. But despite that challenge, we are making good progress in our efforts to vaccinate as many Iowans as possible."
Last week, Reynolds announced Iowans 65 years and older would be eligible to get vaccinated during Phase 1B. Many counties have already started to vaccinate these people.
The state began vaccinating folks over a month ago. Since then, more than 200,000 doses have been administered in the state.
Reynolds put Iowa's journey through the pandemic into perspective.
"It reminds me of a time not too long ago when we had to limit COVID-19 testing to a very small, small population of people because there weren't enough tests available nationwide," Reynolds said. "Then the supply chain began catching up to the demand, and we were able to get supplies through a public-private partnership and stand up the TestIowa program less than two months after the first positive cases were identified in our state."
Iowa reported its first case on March 7, 2020, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.
"Vaccines will follow a similar path as soon as manufacturing ramps up, more vaccines are approved and rolled out, and our state allocation increases even more so that we can get more supply to more providers statewide and into the arms of Iowans," Reynolds said.
Almost every long-term care facility vaccinated in Iowa
Reynolds said one of the most highly anticipated milestones will be when every long-term care facility has been vaccinated. She said she spoke with leaders from CVS and Walgreens to discuss how they are managing.
"Despite a slow start, they've assured me that the vaccine clinics are going well and remain on schedule. The first dose of vaccine has now been administered in nearly every long-term care facility in Iowa."
The first phase of vaccination for long-term care facilities will conclude at the end of this week, according to the governor.
"The second phase has already begun in some of the facilities providing booster doses to those already vaccinated as well as first doses for those who weren't vaccinated in the first round," Reynolds said. "And that phase is expected to end in late February."
The third and final phase will ensure everyone who received their first dose gets their second dose.
90% of long-term care residents have chosen to be vaccinated, but the rate among their caretakers averages around 50%, Reynolds added.
"However, when I talked to the pharmacy partners this week, they are seeing about a 30% increase in staff choosing to be vaccinated during the second phase," Reynolds said.
"The lower than expected uptake among staff has resulted in a growing unused supply of vaccine at both CVS and Walgreens."
Reynolds has asked both pharmacies to reallocate unused doses to the state to then distribute to local health departments. They agreed to do so.
The state is now working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to figure out the logistics. Local 5 clarified with the Iowa Department of Public Health that the extra doses will be used for all Iowans in Phase 1B.
The exact number of doses is unknown at this time.
Reynolds also announced that a vaccine dashboard on the state's coronavirus website is coming this week. Iowans will be able to see the progress the state is making every day once the dashboard is launched.
The dashboard will include the amount of first and second doses administered, doses by manufacturer and day, plus demographic information such as county, gender, age, race and ethnicity.
It will also include an interactive map to show providers by county.
Iowa pharmacies are ready to vaccinate, but supply is too low
The Community Pharmacy Enhanced Service Network (CPSN) Iowa is an organization that works with health care providers throughout the state.
Executive Director Lindsey Ludwig joined Reynolds' press conference Wednesday to discuss how they're helping with vaccine administration.
"Iowans may not know CPSN Iowa by name, but they do know and trust our network pharmacy members caring for patients across the state from border to border, including many of the rural counties," Ludwig said.
"As we all know, demand for vaccine appointments and information continues to increase daily and vaccine supply to date has been very low. Iowans want to know where, when, how and what to expect when receiving a COVID vaccine."
Ludwig said pharmacies are being inundated with calls from Iowans, and providers have similar questions themselves. Pharmacies are regularly updating phone messages, social media and webpages to keep community members as informed and educated as possible.
"Pharmacists in Iowa have been vaccinating, providing vaccines for over 20 years," Ludwig said. "As the vaccine rollout continues across the country and the state and vaccine increases, local community pharmacies will serve as an important access point for Iowans to receive that COVID vaccine."
"It's just critical and I know those relationships already exist. So we're really proud of the network and the partnership that we see taking place," Reynolds said.
Brian Frerichs, owner and operator of Meyer Pharmacy in Waverly, discussed how his pharmacy is facilitating vaccine administration.
"Within 24 hours of receiving the vaccine, Meyer Pharmacy began vaccinating Phase 1A eligible citizens," Frerichs said.
The pharmacist said vaccinating Phase 1A groups required much coordination and scheduling due to the vaccine's storage requirements.
"In a short six-hour shelf life from the first shot administered, it took a village here to create the appointment institute contactless consent forms, vaccinate folks safely and allow for a 15-minute post-vaccination observation time," Frerichs said.
"But our dedicated staff was up to the task."
All doses were administered within the first week of receiving them all while conducting regular pharmacy operations, according to Frerichs.
"There is no doubt it has been a challenge and will continue to be a challenge for the entire healthcare system, which was already busy prior to this major effort," Frerichs said.
In Bremer County, Frerichs said residents should work with their health care provider that they have an existing relationship to get vaccinated.
"We feel this will be the most efficient means to vaccinate in our community."
His pharmacy will contact patients by phone when more doses of vaccine are available for them.
"We know who you are, we know you want the vaccine, but we simply don't have enough for everyone at this moment," Frerichs said. "Our challenge is preparing a plan for receiving 50 doses of vaccine or 1,000 doses of vaccine."
"I've seen firsthand how eager Iowans are for the vaccine. I've seen people cry tears of joy when they receive it. I can assure you our staff, like many others, will adapt and respond to deliver that vaccine quickly and safely when we receive all Iowans that want the vaccine will receive it."
State COVID activity trending downward, testing still high
Reynolds also touched on COVID-19 activity in the state, noting decreases in cases and hospitalizations.
"But some skeptics suggest that maybe this is due to a decrease in testing, assuming that cases are dropping only because fewer Iowans are now choosing to be tested," Reynolds said. "However, our testing level now is consistent with that from October and early November, which was an all-time high at that point."
Watch Gov. Reynolds' press conference live on YouTube