DES MOINES, Iowa — Two months after the first COVID vaccine was approved for emergency use in the United States, Iowa public health officials have chosen Microsoft to develop an online vaccine scheduling system.
The distribution and administration of the vaccine in Iowa has started off slow, leaving thousands of Iowans frustrated about where to go to schedule an appointment and how to get a shot.
Last week, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she would be awarding contracts to two different companies to create a scheduling system as well as a call center to help Iowans navigate the system.
States like Arizona and Minnesota have had such programs up and running for weeks after the vaccine started arriving at their health care systems.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website, Iowa is near the bottom of the list in terms of administering the vaccine.
Iowa is 47th among the states with only 8% of its population having received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to CDC data, and ranks 40th in the number of doses distributed per capita.
The Iowa Department of Public Health will make a selection on a company to run a vaccine call center by Friday.
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