Many Linn and Johnson County restaurants will practice COVID safety despite looser restrictions
Dozens of businesses have shared their plans on social media about maintaining mask rules and social distancing
Takeout orders await pickup on the bar as bartender Chad Webber mixes a drink Oct. 31, 2020, at The Map Room in Cedar Rapids. (Nick Rohlman/Freelance for The Gazette)
Eric Lennie of Cedar Rapids plays a pinball machine Jan. 30 at The Quarter Barrel Arcade & Brewery in downtown Cedar Rapids. (Cliff Jette/Freelance for The Gazette)
Bartender Chad Webber sanitizes a table in between customers Oct. 31, 2020, at The Map Room in Cedar Rapids. (Nick Rohlman/Freelance for The Gazette)
Health care system hopes to scale up distribution effort
Kristen Van Scoyoc, MSN RN, administers the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Eduardo Malamut of Coralville during a vaccination clinic at the UI Health Support Services Building in Coralville on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. University of Iowa Health Care estimates nearly 1,000 patients, eligible under Phase 1b of the state vaccination plan, received their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during the clinic. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Stickers and syringes holding the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are ready for patients during a vaccination clinic at the UI Health Support Services Building in Coralville on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. University of Iowa Health Care estimates nearly 1,000 patients, eligible under Phase 1b of the state vaccination plan, received their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during the clinic. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
In the midst of confusion and frustration over the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine across the country, people like 77-year-old Ricarda Patterson managed to get their hands on a dose at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics first vaccine clinic Wednesday. I feel good, she told the Press-Citizen minutes after her shot. The needles were so big.
Hospital officials converted the UI Health Support Services Building, located at 3285 Ridgeway Drive in Coralville, into a vaccine clinic that opened at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. By the end of the day, a total of 1,004 doses had been administered.
Those being vaccinated Wednesday were part of the state s 1B phase, which includes people 65 and older and essential workers, including firefighters, child welfare workers and educators.
IOWA CITY The Iowa City school board is celebrating news that staff in the district will begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccine this week, while warning getting everyone vaccinated will be a long process.
“It’s obviously slow going. That’s a theme we’ve heard from Johnson County Public Health and the state, but we also think this is fantastic news,” Iowa City schools chief operating officer Chace Ramey said during a school board meeting Tuesday.
Distributing vaccines is a “fluid situation,” Superintendent Matt Degner said.
The district is moving forward as “aggressively” as possible, and staff have expressed anxiety about when they can get the vaccine, he said.
The announcement was made via CODE RED yesterday afternoon.
Anyone 70 years of age and older are encouraged to contact Public Health, the Prescription Shop, or Cornerstone Pharmacy to schedule an appointment to receive the initial vaccine.
For more information, the Public Health phone number is 6842564.