As COVID-19 vaccines become more available, Gov Kim Reynolds received hers in front of cameras msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
IOWA CITY, Ia. The COVID-19 vaccine didn’t feel any different from any of the other shots University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics registered dietitian Sarah Davis has received over the years.
A quick needle stick, and no pain, she said immediately after her shot Monday morning. The only difference between this shot and her others was that the faces of intensive care unit patients for whom she’s cared were flashing through her head.
“It’s been a rough six months,” she said. “(The vaccine) just feels like a beginning to the end of all this. A light at the end of the tunnel.”
How Iowa is helping turn the tide in the pandemic
When COVID-19 spread across the world earlier this year, the University of Iowa was ready to help lead the fight.
The University of Iowa has been on the forefront of COVID-19 research, treatments, care, and the vaccine including leading clinical trials for plasma treatments, the Remdesivir drug treatment, and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Today, UI Health Care is changing the course of the pandemic in Iowa by delivering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to its employees and will soon begin a clinical trial for a new vaccine from Novavax. Thanks to its experts and health care providers, Iowa has been recognized nationally for its important role in combating COVID-19.
Fewer Iowans are getting tested for COVID-19, and that’s making public health officials nervous.
“Anytime you don’t know your status, you could certainly be spreading the virus unknowingly,” said Liz Highland, an advanced registered nurse practitioner at the clinic that manages the bulk of the University of Iowa’s COVID-19 testing. “That’s the biggest risk that people who have COVID are still out in the public and spreading it.”
Over the last month, Dec. 21 through Wednesday, the median number of people tested each day in Iowa was 4,148, down 26 percent from the previous month’s daily median of 5,638 people tested, according to Gazette calculations based on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Back in class, late-night shots, library hero: News from around our 50 states From USA TODAY Network and wire reports, USA TODAY
Alabama
Auburn: The top academic officer at Auburn University is facing a no-confidence vote this week by faculty members over lingering dissatisfaction with his handling of class scheduling around the coronavirus pandemic. The Opelika-Auburn News reports the University Senate is scheduled to meet Tuesday to address complaints against Provost Bill Hardgrave, who is being defended by President Jay Gouge. More than 500 faculty members met in a virtual gathering in November to discuss their concerns about Hardgrave and his insistence on returning to primarily in-person classes in the spring. Economics professor Mike Stern said Wednesday that his concerns still haven’t been adequately addressed. Hardgrave and other officials need to better assess teaching spaces and how to follow health guidelines about social distancing, he said. “I vol