IOWA - Iowa's COVID-19 vaccination rate is improving.
As of Thursday morning, just under five percent of the state's population (4.7 percent) have received at least one dose.
And for the first time, more than half of the vaccines sent to Iowa (51 percent) have been given to people.
Vaccinations are still limited to medical workers and long-term care centers, and won't be expanded to other high-risk groups until February 1st.
Vaccines nationally are lagging, and still haven't reached the original promise of 20 million far vaccinations by the end of last year. As of Thursday morning, 16.5 million vaccines have been administered nationally.
The next round of recipients (Phase 1B) in Iowa includes people over 75 years old and high-risk groups, such as people living with disabilities or in prisons and workers at meatpacking plants.