The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that state health officials confirm that the state of Iowa will receive 100,000 more doses of COVID-19 vaccine this week. Sources say that will also include the newly approved Johnson and Johnson vaccine that received emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health announced on Monday that the state will receive an initial 25,600 doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. The Gazette reports that those doses will then be divided up among 17 Iowa counties, including Linn, that have significant Phase 1B, Tier 2 populations. Those people include food, agriculture, distribution and manufacturing workers who live and work in areas that don't allow for social distancing. In also includes people with disabilities living in home settings and their caregivers.

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The Johnson and Johnson vaccine only requires one shot, and can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures, making it easier to store and get into arms. The counties that will be getting doses of the new vaccine are Black Hawk, Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, Clarke, Crawford, Dallas, Dubuque, Louisa, Marion, Marshall, Muscatine, Plymouth, Pottawattamie, Sioux, Tama, and Wright.

The Johnson and Johnson vaccine has proved safe and effective in clinical trials, according to the Gazette. It prevented hospitalizations and death, including against the more transmissible variant strains.

In Linn County, records show that 51,720 doses of the vaccine have been administered. Just over 8 percent of the county's adult population have received both doses. 17 new cases were reported in Linn County on Monday.

 

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