The Iowa House has voted to let dentists administer COVID-19 vaccines and give the shots at their practices if they want to, though some are questioning the move, reports Radio Iowa.
During a Senate subcommittee hearing, Dennis Tibben, a lobbyist for the Iowa Medical Society, said dental staff may not be properly trained "to accurately, consistently and quickly" record every dose given into the required database.
"We could set ourselves up for the potential here where we would have phantom doses that it shows on our federal reports, that we have more doses on the shelf than we actually do," Mr. Tibben said, according to Radio Iowa. "That could impact the weekly supply of COVID-19 vaccines that we're receiving from the federal government."
"I would note that this is voluntary," said William McBride, DDS, chair of the state dental board, which supports the bill. "Some dentists will opt not to participate, but I would also like to note that it could be an additional access point for patients, particularly in rural communities. … The board believes that dentists are more than qualified to provide this service and that it would be good public health policy."
With vaccine dose shortages, now isn't the time to distribute doses to dentist's offices, said Sara Allen, a lobbyist for the Iowa Dental Association, according to Radio Iowa.
"Upsetting the apple cart right now is not really conducive to public health," Ms. Allen said. "However, I will say that we would love and would be great partners with the state if there were these vaccine clinics throughout the state where, you know, we could show up on a Saturday and help administer the vaccines."