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Iowa Department of Public Health will report booster shot data

['Katie Akin', 'More From Author', '- October']

Date: 2021-11


As Food and Drug Administration experts recommend more COVID-19 booster shots, the Iowa Department of Public Health says it will start publicly reporting third dose data.

The FDA recommended in late September that elderly or immunocompromised people who received the Pfizer vaccine get a third booster shot. This week, FDA panels recommended booster shots for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients as well.

Who is eligible for a booster shot?

As of Oct. 15, the federal government has fully approved booster shots only for Pfizer recipients. FDA panels have recommended action on both Moderna and Johnson & Johnson booster plans, but it will be a little longer before the shots are fully approved and available to Iowans.

Here’s what we know so far about who will be able to receive a booster:

Moderna or Pfizer: The FDA recommends that individuals over 65, people with medical conditions and adults who live and work in high-risk settings can get a third shot.

Johnson & Johnson: All adults who received a single-shot J&J vaccine will be eligible for a second dose, under the recommendation of an FDA panel. Representatives for state agencies did not give guidance about the J&J vaccine on Friday, noting that the booster proposal had not yet been fully approved.

How will IDPH track and report boosters?

IDPH Spokesperson Sarah Ekstrand said Friday that 90,000 third doses have been administered so far in Iowa. That includes additional doses for “moderately to severely immunocompromised individuals,” who are eligible for an additional shot within just a month of the first two doses, and people receiving a booster.

The state’s coronavirus dashboard will update “in the coming weeks” include data on the number of third doses administered.

However, state representatives said the state dashboard will not include information about how many people received the booster shot and later were hospitalized or died of COVID-19. Department of Human Services Spokesperson Alex Carfrae said the current systems “do not have the ability to track morbidity and mortality, and COVID-19 additional dose or booster vaccination status.”

The state dashboard currently reports the percentage of people hospitalized and in the ICU who are vaccinated as a testament to the efficacy of vaccines. Data on Friday showed that over 80% of COVID-19 patients in the ICU were unvaccinated.

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