The announcement of preliminary results of one of the vaccine candidates (Pfizer and its partner, the German company, BioNTech) of a 90 percent effectiveness rate, is raising expectations that an emergency approval may take place before years end. There are a couple of logistical issues (it’s a two step vaccine meaning two doses administered four weeks apart, the need to have cold storage of the doses,) and the need to manufacture sufficient doses before it is approved for distribution.
Meanwhile, Iowa has fallen into thr grips of a massive outbreak of COVID-19 with 4000 new cases statewide daily, a rise in hospitalization (to capacity in some urban counties), respirator use, and ICU bed occupancy. The state’s largest health care system, UnityPoint, is at capacity at all of its hospitals statewide which is causing much longer waits in all of its emergency care facilities across the state and postponement of all elective surgeries.
Positivity rates in almost every county now exceeds 10%, and most now exceed 15% of those tested within the last two weeks. Urban school systems are beginning to seek waivers for remote instruction from the state’s mandatory in class instruction requirement, which will last for up to 2 weeks at a time.
And Iowa’s governor has finally issued a partial mask wearing mandate for gatherings of over 25 indoors, and 100 outdoors.