Photo courtesy of Washington County Public Health.

Congresswoman and physician Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) helped administer COVID-19 vaccines at Washington County Public Health Wednesday afternoon.

While the U.S. House is in recess the former Iowa Department of Public Health director told KCII she is spending her time visiting vaccination clinics in her district to encourage Iowans to get vaccinated, “I consider this to me a liberalization, it is a democratization of our health. To me, I felt I was personally responsible to get a vaccine. So when Governor Reynolds said my age group was up, which was the 1st of February, I got vaccinated, and I want to see people smile.”

Miller-Meeks mentioned that Iowans have voiced concerns of the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines and others in the past, but she reasons that the side effects from contracting COVID-19 are far worse than receiving the vaccine. Washington County Public Health vaccinated about 150 people who work in the manufacturing tier of the Phase 1B priority group at their office Wednesday. According to the state vaccine dashboard Washington County has administered 5,132 total doses, with 1,415 two-dose series initiated and 1,864 two-dose series completed.