Iowa’s demand for COVID-19 vaccine drops sharply

Only 19 of Iowa’s 99 counties want all the COVID-19 vaccines they are entitled to next week, public health officials said Tuesday, even as the state relaxes its rule on how many of those doses must end up in arms.

The decline in demand has been both swift and steep.

It was only a few weeks ago that the scarcity of vaccines led Iowans to liken the difficulty in getting an appointment with the “Hunger Games” in leaving vulnerable people behind. Vaccine helpers sprang up to give advice, write computer programs and volunteer to snag appointments for friends. But then in late April, 43 Iowa counties declined all or some of the COVID-19 vaccines doses they were allotted to get. Tuesday, that number nearly doubled to 80 counties declining doses for next week.

Iowa Department of Public Health spokeswoman Sarah Ekstrand said the decrease in vaccine demand is a trend happening in several other states, too, and public health officials are working with community leaders to better understand the sources of the resistance.

The Public Health Department also said that “at this time” it is lifting the threshold it set for administering the vaccine. Up until now, a county had to administer at least 80 percent of its weekly allotment before it could quality for the full allocation the next time. At least for now, that rule — which had angered some county officials — is gone.

“Because a significant portion of the eligible population has been vaccinated and demand is decreasing, it's reasonable that the pace of administration may be slower in some areas,” Ekstrand said.

Nearly 39 percent of Iowans age 16 and up had been fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, according to state data. Iowa ranks 14th in the nation in its vaccination rate, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The 80 counties that now have declined vaccines are mostly rural but include counties with sizable cities, such as Scott County, which includes Davenport, Black Hawk County, which includes Waterloo, and Plymouth and Woodbury counties, which include Sioux City.

However, neither Linn nor Johnson counties asked for their allocations to be cut next week. Both counties have been outpacing the statewide vaccination rate. About 41 percent of Linn County’s 16-and-up population was fully vaccinated as of Tuesday. In Johnson County, it was over 46 percent.

Many states have resumed giving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine after federal authorities last Friday said the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risk of a rare blood clot found in a few women. The vaccine's delivery had been paused for 11 days while the matter was investigated.

“We are hopeful that lifting the pause of the J & J vaccine will also contribute to more vaccines being administered in the state, especially among individuals who prefer the convenience of a single dose,” Ekstrand said. “We want to vaccinate as many Iowans as possible while doing everything we can to avoid vaccines sitting on shelves. ”

Public health officials have said that the one-dose vaccine is ideal for rural areas partly because it does not require super-cold storage and for populations that face barriers in getting to two appointments as required by other brands.

Gov. Kim Reynolds last week emphasized the need for Iowans to get vaccinated, expressing concern over the level of resistance seen in the state. Tuesday, President Joe Biden and CDC officials continued that theme, evoking the possibility of a return to a more normal summer if enough people get vaccinated by then.

The 80 Iowa counties that declined some or all of their vaccine doses for next week are, according to the state Public Health Department: Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cedar, Cerro Gordo, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Clarke, Clay, Clayton, Clinton, Crawford, Dallas, Davis, Decatur, Delaware, Des Moines, Dickinson, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Fremont, Greene, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Humboldt, Iowa, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jones, Keokuk, Kossuth, Lee, Louisa, Lucas, Lyon, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Mills, Monroe, Montgomery, O'Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Poweshiek, Ringgold, Sac, Scott, Shelby, Sioux, Tama, Taylor, Union, Van Buren, Wapello, Warren, Wayne, Webster, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Woodbury and Wright.

The Associated Press and Michaela Ramm of The Gazette contributed to this report.