Vaccination rate remains sluggish in Iowa as COVID-19 cases increase

New data published by the Iowa Department of Public Health this week shows COVID-19 vaccination rates continues to increase in Iowa but still remain below the 70 to 80 percent benchmark experts have set to reach herd immunity against the virus.

As of Tuesday, the number of fully vaccinated Iowans and non-Iowans now totals 1,933,003, an increase of 10,083 from May 3 totals.

That’s 62.3 percent of the state’s total population and 66.4 percent of those aged 5 and older.

The state now updates vaccination totals on the first Tuesday of the month.

The number of fully vaccinated and boosted individuals in Iowa reached 1,052,546 this month, an increase of 18,464 individuals from last month.

Johnson County continues to lead the state in the percent of its population fully vaccinated — 73.1 percent of the total population and 77.6 percent of residents aged 5 and older. It is the only county in Iowa with a rate over 70 percent.

Linn County reported 67.1 percent of the total county population and 71.6 percent of those aged 5 and older were fully vaccinated as of this week.

New cases

New seven-day COVID-19 cases increased to 4,283 as of Wednesday, continuing the weekslong trend of increasing coronavirus activity. This week’s total compares to the 3,854 new cases reported last week

In total, Iowa has reported 784,302 cases of the coronavirus throughout the two-year pandemic.

For the seventh week in a row, Johnson County again had the highest seven-day positivity rate in the state, reaching 357 positive tests per 100,000 residents. Last week, the county reported 331 positive tests per 100,000 residents.

However, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Johnson County has been declining slightly in the past two weeks — 406 cases in the past week compared to 424 the previous week and 484 cases the week before.

In total, the county has had 37,488 coronavirus cases since March 2020.

Linn County also has seen a decline in new weekly COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, with the county reporting 350 COVID-19 cases in the past seven days. That compares to 353 cases reported last week and the 367 the week before.

In total, Linn County has reported 54,594 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.

Community transmission

As of Monday, the majority of Iowa’s 99 counties have “high” or “substantial” COVID-19 community transmission levels. Both Johnson and Linn counties — and most of their contiguous counties — have the highest transmission levels, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More counties are falling to the “moderate” or “low” COVID-19 transmission levels compared to the week before.

Hospitalizations

The number COVID-related hospitalizations in the past week dropped to 167, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This comes after COVID-related hospitalizations increased by nearly 30 percent last week, jumping to 180 patients from the 139 patients the week before.

Last week was the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations reported since March 2, when 202 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized, according to federal health officials.

These totals still remain far below the 991 patients hospitalized the week of Jan. 19 at the height of the omicron surge.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care was unchanged from last week, remaining at 21 patients as of Wednesday. That’s an increase from the 13 patients reported two weeks ago.

Deaths

Another 12 deaths as a result of COVID-19 were confirmed on Wednesday by the state public health department. Last week, 15 COVID-19 deaths confirmed by the state.

In total, 9,615 Iowans have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Linn County reported two COVID-19 deaths in the past seven days, bringing its overall death toll to 589.

Johnson County reported no coronavirus deaths in the past week. To date, 154 county residents have died from COVID-19.

Comments: (319) 398-8469; michaela.ramm@thegazette.com

John McGlothlen of The Gazette contributed to this report.