Vaccine Rollout

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Vaccine Rollout

The Daily Iowan

Front page of The Daily Iowan with a full-width above-the-fold graphic on COVID vaccine rollout. The graphic is seperated from the story with a red background ending in a diagonal slash through the middle of the page. A grey circle and thick, curved red line on the red background radiate out from a microscopic image of the COVID-19 virus. Another thick red line in the shape of a half circle seperates the image of the virus from an image of a bottle of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The image of the vaccine is shaped like a circle with a point coming off the bottom right corner, embedding it into the story text. The secondary story below the fold has the Ethics & Politics banner and an image of Joni Ernst on a computer screen during a zoom call. To the left of the secondary story is a half-rail detailing some of the inside stories with the DITV logo. To the right of the secondary story is a third story about vaccines and increasing travel interest.

Monday, January 25, 2021


Officials prep for second vaccine rollout

Health officials say there have not been many COVID-19 vaccines wasted in phase one of vaccination.


BY SABINE MARTIN sabine-martin@uiowa.edu


After administering vaccinations to health care workers and long-term care facility residents, Johnson County health organizations will pivot to the second phase of COVID-19 vaccinations on Feb. 1.


The second group, phase 1B, includes individuals age 65 and older, Pre-K-12 school staff, and first responders, according to the Johnson County Public Health website. Details about how and when people can get a vaccine have not yet been released by the Iowa Department of Public Health, though public health experts expect the vaccine to be available at 1,700 doctor’s offices, health clinics, and pharmacies in Iowa that have signed up to vaccinate individuals.


Community Health Manager for Johnson County Public Health Sam Jarvis said Johnson County Public Health and the state of Iowa allocate doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and recruit vetted providers to work with.


Jarvis said most of the doses available are now going to Johnson County hospitals to cover phase 1A of the COVID-19 vaccine, which included front-line health care workers and long-term care facility residents and staff.


“We’re still trying to get as many people vaccinated safely and quickly as possible,” Jarvis said, “... but the role of public health is really to make sure that these doses are going to where they get where they’re needed most.”


As previously reported by The Daily Iowan earlier this month, over 9,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in Johnson County since Dec. 14.


(SEE VACCINE, 2)


Iowa GOP to build on Trump policies

In interviews with The Daily Iowan, Iowa’s congressional delegation said they hope to find common ground with the Democratic Congress.


BY JULIA SHANAHAN julia-shanahan@uiowa.edu


Members of Iowa’s mostly Republican congressional delegation say they want to continue to build on Trumpera policies in the new Biden-Harris administration while moving past the former president’s divisive rhetoric.


Iowa’s Republican senators, in the majority for the last four years, will now have to work with a Democratic Congress and presidential administration.


Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, both named agriculture, tax cuts, and criminal justice reform as areas they hope to find common ground with the Democratic majority. Both senators named the First Step Act, a criminal-justice law signed by Trump in 2018, as a bipartisan piece of legislation they hope to build off of in the new Congress.


Grassley sponsored the First Step Act, along with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Grassley said this bill was necessary in correcting some injustices brought forth by the 1994 crime bill.


“At the time Durbin and I were working on that bill, we were up against a majority of the Republican caucus being against what we tried to do, and if the president hadn’t been for it, I wouldn’t have been able to overcome McConnell’s opposition to it,” Grassley said of then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel, R-Ky. “And you know, in the end, McConnell even voted for it and it passed 87 to 12.”


The First Step Act aimed to reduce prison populations, reduce mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug offenses, and expand rehabilitation efforts. Ernst said she is currently working with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., on a bill that would allow people convicted of minor drug offenses greater opportunity for work.


Ernst called it a “shame” that a lot of Trump-era policies in these areas were lost in his divisive and politically incor-


(SEE DELEGATION, 3)


Vaccine spurs added travel interest

Local travel agencies have seen an uptick in travel inquiries and bookings with an end to the pandemic in sight.


BY CLAIRE BENSON claire-benson@uiowa.edu


Local travel agencies in Iowa City are seeing an uptick in future travel inquiries and trip bookings as COVID-19 vaccine distribution ramps up across the country.


This comes as former President Trump recently lessened international travel restrictions, lifting the ban on travelers from Europe and Brazil entering the United States on Jan. 18.


Planning future travel during the pandemic has been difficult for many Americans, with the risk of further COVID-19 spread and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention frequently adjusting recommendations and proposed guidelines for those seeking to travel.


Travel agencies, especially smaller, locally owned agencies, have felt pressure from the instability of the travel industry in the past year, which has brought about financial difficulties.


Travel Leaders / Destinations Unlimited CEO and owner Duane Jasper said his business – based out of Cedar Rapids and Coralville – was significantly impacted at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.


“With CDC restrictions and everyone being concerned about spreading the virus, it caused travel, basically, to almost halt in the first and second quarter of last year,” Jasper said. “It has been picking up slowly but steadily since then. But it’s certainly had an impact on anybody in the travel industry, whether you’re a hotel supplier, or car rental company, airline, or travel industry.”


Jasper said he was forced to evaluate the amount of work that was necessary for employees to complete. During this time, he said the agency received an influx of can-


(SEE TRAVEL, 2)