Older minnesotans have more choices of where to get the vaccine two weeks after it was first made available in new state-run clinics. Two of those clinics – including one in Duluth – will be scaled up to continue on a more permanent basis, Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday February 1, while the others will reopen next week for booster shots.
“We have long planned for most minnesotans to be vaccinated in the places where they are used to getting their health care – places like smaller clinics, local hospitals and community pharmacies,” the governor said in a statement. “But not everyone has a doctor or pharmacy they know. That’s why we’ve built a trustworthy network of different ways Minnesota Minnesota can access the vaccine. After careful planning, we’re now activating that network to bring Minnesota options close to home.”
The governor’s announcement comes early in the first week when Minnesota will receive additional doses of the vaccine from the federal government. An additional 11,000 doses were scheduled to be shipped to the state, on top of the 60,000 normally shipped each week under a plan to increase vaccine supplies previously announced by President Joe Biden’s administration.
Minnesota ages 65 and older will be able to find nearby vaccine providers using an improved State Department of Health web tool debuting Monday. More than 35,000 doses are set aside for the new effort this week, according to Walz’s office.
Childcare workers, educators, and school staff – also served by the state clinics that started two weeks ago – who have not yet received their vaccinations will be eligible at a larger clinic in Minneapolis, which operates on a more permanent basis than the clinic operating there. opened earlier. They will also receive the vaccine at 35 state and local public health clinics in Minnesota, according to Walz’s office, as well as pharmacies in Brainerd, St. Cloud and Rochester that will receive it.
Education and childcare workers will be informed by their respective employers when they can receive the vaccine.
A second large-scale vaccination clinic will also be launched in Duluth, similar to the one in Minneapolis. Seniors will still have access to the clinics in Duluth and Minneapolis, and the launch of another clinic in southern Minnesota is scheduled for next week.
State Health Department Commissioner Jan Malcolm said on Monday that additional semi-permanent clinics are likely to be opened in the near future. In opening the clinics, she said, Minnesota is applying the lessons learned over the past two weeks that tested the concept of the community clinic.
“We must be ready to vaccinate Minnesota in a large-scale, efficient, and rapid manner when we start getting more vaccines from the federal government,” Malcolm said in a press call.
Older residents who pre-registered for appointments at local vaccination clinics held last week, but did not receive them, will “ have the opportunity to be elected again this week to schedule a vaccine appointment at our locations in Minneapolis or Duluth, ”the state health service website said. More than 220,000 people age 65 and older pre-registered last week through the health department’s website and phone line.
However, the community clinics at Blaine, Brooklyn Center, Fergus Falls, Marshall, Mountain Iron, North Mankato, Rochester, St. Cloud, St. Paul and Thief River Falls won’t reopen until next week. They will remain open for two weeks starting Thursday, Feb. 11, to administer second-round injections of the vaccine, two doses of which are required for maximum effectiveness, according to the health department’s website.
For now, the plan is for people to return to the same community clinics where they received their first doses for their follow-up shots.
Prior to two weeks ago, vaccination efforts during the coronavirus pandemic focused primarily on health professionals and residents or patients in long-term care facilities, the latter of whom are especially at risk of dying from COVID-19.
On Monday, state health officials reported that nearly 560,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered so far. About 111,000 people in Minnesota have received the two required doses of the vaccine, while another 418,299 have received at least one injection.
Another 727 cases of COVID-19 were reported in Minnesota on Monday. Two additional deaths were also reported, both of which occurred in the Twin Cities area.
Malcolm also said on Monday that Minnesota residents continue to test for COVID-19 more or less regularly and that the proportion of tests that come back positive – calculated on a seven-day moving average – is 4.8%.
About 387 people are hospitalized because of COVID-19, Malcolm said, 92 of whom are in intensive care.
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- COVID-19 Hotline from the Minnesota Department of Health: 651-201-3920.
- COVID-19 Discrimination Hotline: 833-454-0148
- Minnesota Department of Health COVID-19 website: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) website.