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Iowa Clinic working to vaccinate Phase 1B Tier 2 individuals before eligibility opens April 5

The West Des Moines clinic has converted conference rooms into vaccine locations to keep patients socially distanced.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Clinic in West Des Moines said they're on track to open vaccine eligibility to all adults by April 5, but for now, they're still working to vaccinate adults 65 years and older as well as those 64 and younger with medical conditions that make them at risk for serious illness from COVID-19.

On Thursday, the clinic received a new shipment of Pfizer doses for folks to start their vaccine series. The clinic hopes to vaccinate 1,200 people this week. 

"We understand how important it is to get our community vaccinated so that we can get a return to a more normal social life, business life, and certainly decrease death disability related to this virus," said Dr. Barbara Hodne, the chief quality officer at the clinic. 

The Iowa Clinic is currently working within the same tier as Polk County, which opened eligibility to those 64 and under with health conditions on Monday. They've converted conference rooms into areas for folks to stay socially distanced while they get their shot.

The clinic is looking to stay in sync with the rest of the county. 

RELATED: Gov. Reynolds says Iowa on track to open eligibility to all adults by April 5: 'Soon there will be enough vaccine for everyone'

Those who are already patients of Iowa Clinic will be vaccinated first. Patients should be on the lookout for an email with a link to register for the vaccine. 

Hodne said the clinic will work as hard as they can to vaccinate as many people as they can. 

"We don't want there to be overwhelming numbers of people, you know, congregating, that creates a high-risk situation for potential virus spread," Hodne said. "So, while I understand it's frustrating for patients to sometimes get logged in and get their appointment, we want to try to keep it in an orderly fashion so that people are safe and they have a good experience while they're here."

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