Almost 18% of Iowans fully vaccinated against COVID-19

More than 23,000 additional people were fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus in Iowa as of Saturday morning's new totals.

That brings the statewide count for residents who've received a full series in Iowa since vaccinations started in December to nearly 18 percent of the population, or 522,289, along with 44,209 non-residents, according to Iowa Department of Public Health data and as analyzed by The Gazette.

At 42,114 people, Linn County has seen 18.58 percent of its total population get all necessary doses of a COVID-19 vaccination, for the previous 24-hour period as of 11 a.m. Saturday.

Johnson County, at 70,978 residents thus far, has reached 24.41 percent of its full population.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Saturday more than 50 million Americans had received a full vaccinations series.

Two more deaths were attributed to COVID-19, bringing the total to 5,718 in the past year.

New cases

The state public health department recorded 531 new cases as of Saturday morning. The seven-day average, as calculated by The Gazette, stood at 540.

Linn County saw 12 additional cases of COVID-19 for the 24-hour period, while Johnson County was noted with 19 new cases.

Top 10 counties in total cases:

1. Polk - 54,094

2. Linn - 19,811

3. Scott - 17,865

4. Black Hawk - 15,224

5. Woodbury - 14,412

6. Johnson - 13,464

7. Dubuque - 12,665

8. Dallas - 10,586

9. Pottawattamie - 10,230

10. Story - 9,972.

One hundred two children were reported among new cases statewide.

The CDC listed 29.98 million cases nationwide on its COVID-19 data tracker.

Hospitalizations

Hospitalizations statewide were down by a half-dozen people, to 201 people, from Friday.

Forty-three patients were in intensive care - a drop of three from the day before - and 12 were on ventilators, which was down by two people from the previous 24-hour period.

Long-term care

Two current outbreaks of the coronavirus were listed by the state public health department, one more than on Friday. Twelve individuals had tested positive.

The facilities were in Polk and Ottumwa counties.

Thus far, 2,232 people have died from the virus who were connected to long-term care facilities in Iowa.

The Gazette's Stephen Colbert contributed to this article,