Associated Press
FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, Edna Becker receives the Moderna coronavirus vaccine from nurse Patricia Torres at the mass vaccination clinic at the New Braunfels Civic/Convention Center in New Braunfels, Texas. As the nation s COVID-19 vaccination campaign accelerates, governors, public health directors and committees advising them are holding key discussions behind closed doors, including debates about who should be eligible for the shots and how to best distribute them. (Mikala Compton/Herald-Zeitung via AP, File)
IOWA CITY, Iowa As the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign accelerates, governors, public health directors and committees advising them are holding key discussions behind closed doors, including debates about who should be eligible for the shots and how best to distribute them.
IPR
A Democratic representative wore jeans in the Iowa House to protest the lack of a mask mandate at the statehouse.
Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, did not allow a Democratic representative to speak during a debate Tuesday evening because she violated the chamber dress code by wearing jeans to test Grassley’s claims that he can’t enforce a mask mandate.
Grassley has repeatedly said that he would not be able to enforce a mask mandate in the Iowa House, where the legislative session is being conducted in person during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, and other Democrats have pushed back on that claim and have called on Grassley to require masks.
States holding key vaccine discussions in closed meetings
By RYAN J. FOLEYFebruary 3, 2021 GMT
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) As the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign accelerates, governors, public health directors and committees advising them are holding key discussions behind closed doors, including debates about who should be eligible for the shots and how best to distribute them.
A review by The Associated Press finds that advisory committees created to help determine how to prioritize limited doses have held closed meetings in at least 13 states that are home to more than 70 million people.
In at least 15 other states, the meetings have been open to the public, the AP found. But even in those states, governors and health departments can modify or override committee recommendations with little or no public explanation. In several others, governors and their staffs make decisions without formal advisory bodies to guide them.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) As the nation s COVID-19 vaccination campaign accelerates, governors, public health directors and committees advising them are holding key discussions behind closed doors, including debates about who should be eligible for the shots and how best to distribute them.
A review by The Associated Press finds that advisory committees created to help determine how to prioritize limited doses have held closed meetings in at least 13 states that are home to more than 70 million people.
In at least 15 other states, the meetings have been open to the public, the AP found. But even in those states, governors and health departments can modify or override committee recommendations with little or no public explanation. In several others, governors and their staffs make decisions without formal advisory bodies to guide them.