Clayton among counties turning away vaccine doses due to lower demand

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

Iowa is turning away over one-quarter of its allotted COVID-19 vaccine doses this week due to low demand. 

According to the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), the state declined 18,300 of 34,300 Moderna vaccine doses as well as 3,510 of 46,800 Pfizer doses.

On April 21, Gov. Kim Reynolds said 43 of Iowa’s 99 counties, including Clayton, had declined at least some of their vaccine allocations for the week of April 26.

In her regular column, Dr. Michele Dikkers, chair of the Clayton County Board of Health, said the vaccine “is here. It is safe. It is free. And it is available. It is so available there is not a wait list in Clayton County.”

All residents need to do is call (563) 245-2064 to be directed to a pharmacy or clinic to receive the vaccine, she noted.

The number of COVID-19 vaccination doses administered to Iowa residents last week totaled just over 159,768.

As of April 26, IDPH said 2,143,847 doses have been administered to Iowans. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 43 percent of the state’s population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 31.7 percent of residents are now fully vaccinated. That’s up from 40.8 percent and 28.4 percent, respectively, a week ago.

In Clayton County, 909 series have been initiated for a two-dose vaccine, while 5,203 series of a two-dose vaccine have been completed. Additionally, 453 people have completed a single-dose vaccination.

The CDC reported 33 percent of Clayton County residents have been vaccinated—up 2 percent from a week ago. That includes 42 percent of people age 18 and over and 70 percent of people age 65 and over.

“There can be side effects to the vaccine,” said Dikkers, listing fatigue, body aches, chills and fever that can last 12 to 48 hours. “But the biggest side effect is relief. Relief that we have another layer of protection.”

Dikkers has spent the past year going back and forth to work and home, avoiding large group gatherings, wearing masks, washing her hands and social distancing.

While she may sign four death certificates in a normal month, during the coronavirus surge in northeast Iowa, she was signing them daily, sometimes up to four per day.

“I have watched patients and friends die from a disease that has no cure,” Dikkers said. “There are treatments to help support the body and help in fighting the disease, but no proven cure.” 

Johns Hopkins reports there have been 141.5 million cases and 3 million COVID-19 related deaths worldwide, including 564,000 deaths in the United States alone.

“As we have journeyed through the past year, it has come to my attention that if one has not been inside a medical institute during a surge, they may not have the same perspective as someone that has,” Dikkers remarked. “I share my experiences of the past year not to be used as a scare tactic, but to give perspective.  This past year has changed me. It has changed us all.”

She stressed the quickest way for people to take their lives back, for the economy to recover, for businesses to return, for families and friends to gather, is for everyone to get the vaccine.

“Most of us have been getting vaccines our whole lives without issues. A smoker is somewhere around 200 to 400 times more likely to develop a blood clot than is someone that gets a COVID vaccine,” she said. “If you love, care for and/or respect the people and family members you spend time with, you will get the vaccine to protect them and yourself.”

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COVID-19 remains active in the county. Six positive tests were reported in Clayton County over the past week, according to data from IDPH. The county’s total was at 1,761 positive tests as of April 26.

The county’s 14-day positivity rate, which measures the percentage of positive tests in that span, currently sits at 2 percent. Over seven days, the positivity rate is 1.7 percent.

IDPH said Iowa had 192 positive COVID-19 tests on Monday. The state’s total number of positive tests is at 392,558, an increase of 3,207 from a week ago. 

Overall, Iowa’s 14-day positivity rate is 4.2 percent and the seven-day rate sits at 4.1 percent.

As of Monday, 179 people around the state were hospitalized, down 26 people from last week. Of those hospitalized, 42 were in the ICU. 

One COVID-19 related death was reported in Clayton County over the past week, according to IDPH. Since the start of the pandemic, 56 Clayton County residents have died.

There have been 5,927 total deaths in Iowa, but none reported on Monday. Per IDPH, 41 Iowans have died as a result of COVID-19 in the past week.