DES MOINES, Ia. (Associated Press and KMTV) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds held a press conference in Johnston, Iowa on Thursday.
Reynolds asked that Iowans remain patient until the kinks are ironed out of the state's mass vaccination process. Reynolds said Polk County has been using 100% of its weekly allotted vaccines and that the state is looking into how the vaccination process can be streamlined.
According to the governor, as of Thursday morning there are 70,000 Iowans who received both doses and are fully vaccinated.
Iowa continues to have the third-worst coronavirus vaccination rate per capita in the nation as the state reached a milestone Thursday of more than 5,000 people killed by the virus.
Gov. Kim Reynolds said she is working on improving vaccination efforts. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Iowa has 6,315 people per 100,000 given the first vaccine dose. That is worse than all other states except Idaho and Missouri.
Public health officials reported 58 additional deaths on Thursday, increasing the state total to 5,033 since the beginning of the pandemic nearly a year ago.
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