Today, Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) applauded an announcement by the Biden Administration that six health centers across Iowa will be included in the next expansion phase of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) COVID-19 vaccination initiative, including three in Iowa’s Third Congressional District.
“I’m pleased that our federal health leaders have decided to rapidly expand community health center vaccinations in Iowa by adding three new partnerships in Iowa’s Third Congressional District and three more sites across other regions of Iowa,” said Rep. Axne. “These community health centers are already well-positioned to provide vaccinations quickly to the communities they serve – and that’s why my House colleagues and I urged the CDC and Biden Administration to utilize this existing health infrastructure to ramp up our rates of vaccination across the state.”
The Community Health Center Vaccination Program, launched last month, is sending direct allocations of COVID-19 vaccines to federally qualified community health centers (FQHCs) across the U.S.
Rep. Axne and Reps. Ashley Hinson, Randy Feenstra, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks wrote to HHS Secretary-Designate Xavier Becerra and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky after the program’s launch to urge them to include Iowa’s health centers.
The FQHCs invited to join the program are located in Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Urbandale, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and Sioux City:
- Proteus Inc. in Des Moines*
- All Care Health Center in Council Bluffs*
- Primary Health Care Inc in Urbandale*
- Eastern Iowa Health Center in Cedar Rapids
- Crescent Community Health Center in Dubuque
- Siouxland Community Health Center in Sioux City
The first FQHC to receive COVID-19 vaccines in Iowa through the federal partnership is located in Davenport.
The FQHCs supported by HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) serve nearly 30 million patients each year, 91% of whom are living at or below the federal poverty line.
Original source can be found here.
