More than 40% of Iowans fully vaccinated against COVID-19

More than 40 percent of Iowans have had a complete series of vaccinations against the novel coronavirus as of Saturday afternoon.

Iowans having been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 totaled 1,265,391 as of 1:30 p.m. Saturday. That was 9,895 more since Friday, according to Iowa Department of Public Health data and as analyzed by The Gazette.

No new deaths were recorded statewide.

Vaccinations

In Linn County, 100,802 residents have been fully vaccinated. That made for 44.46 percent of its population.

In Johnson County, more than half its residents — 50.74 percent — at 76,688 had received a full series.

New cases

For all of Iowa, 170 new positive cases were listed on the public health department’s website for the previous 24-hour period as of early Saturday afternoon. That created a seven-day average of 183 cases.

Linn County saw 13 additional cases, making its seven-day average also 13. Johnson had three new positive cases, for a seven-day average of five.

For children under the age of 18, a total 36 new cases were reported by the state for the 24-hour period, and there was one new case of an adult employed in the education field.

Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday signed into law a ban on mask mandates in Iowa schools.

Most school districts will finish their academic year within these next two weeks, and some said they’d initially intended to follow the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations on maintaining strategies that include masks for the rest of this school year.

Hospitalizations

Iowa listed 131 hospitalizations related to COVID-19 on Saturday afternoon — nine fewer than the day before.

Thirty-nine patients were in intensive-care units — three fewer than Friday — and 18 were on ventilators, which is down two from the previous day.

Long-term care

Two outbreaks remain in effect since Tuesday for long-term care facilities. An outbreak is defined as three or more cases for residents and/or employees at a facility.

Since March 2020, there have been 2,358 deaths connected to long-term care centers in Iowa.

The Gazette’s Stephen Colbert contributed to this report.