Iowa Overestimated How Many Seniors Have Received COVID Shots

The Iowa Department of Public Health has acknowledged that it significantly overestimated how many seniors in the state have been vaccinated against COVID-19, reports the Des Moines Register . On March 12, the department said 94.9 percent of Iowans 65 or older had received at least one dose of the vaccine, while Gov. Kim Reynolds announced five days later that 95.3 percent had received at least one dose. The Des Moines Register queried Iowa Department of Public Health officials last week about the senior estimates, which did not correlate with much lower estimates reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Department spokesperson Sarah Ekstrand has admitted that state estimates were in error, as staff mistakenly had counted some seniors twice, because they were in listings of Iowans receiving an initial dose of the vaccine and in listings of those receiving a second shot. The corrected tally estimates that 82 percent of senior Iowans had received at least one dose by Tuesday, while the CDC said that number was 76 percent. "Despite this change, Iowa's administration results for adults aged 65 and older rank in the top 10 nationwide," Reynolds noted.