COVID In Minnesota: More Than 50% Of Seniors Have Received At Least 1 Vaccine Shot

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — As Minnesota has ramped up its pace in administering COVID-19 vaccines — with nearly 1 million receiving at least one shot — health officials reported Tuesday 443 new cases of the virus and four more deaths.

The latest update from the Minnesota Department of Health shows the cumulative COVID-19 case count reached 485,655 since the first case was reported in the state nearly a year ago. The state’s death toll is at 6,490.

As of Sunday, 1,383,609 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Minnesota, mostly of the Pfizer vaccine. The state’s vaccine rollout dashboard shows that 16% of the population (908,590 people) have gotten one shot while 8.5% (or 472,789 people) have received the full series.

Last week, Gov. Tim Walz said the vaccine rollout will expand once 70% of seniors have received their first vaccine shot. Currently, Minnesotans ages 65 and older, educators, child care workers, residents in long-term care facilities, and frontline health care workers are the only groups eligible for the vaccine.

As of last weekend, 53% of seniors had received at least a single vaccine dose. Most seniors are expected to get their first shot by the end of the month. However, the governor says that the process could be expedited as shipments of the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine arrive in Minnesota.

On Monday, health officials announced that 45,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will arrive in Minnesota this week. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one shot to be effective unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, both of which require two doses for full effectiveness.

The next groups to get the vaccine will be Minnesotans with certain underlying health conditions and food processing workers. After them, the rollout will expand to include more Minnesotans with health conditions and various types of essential workers. All adults are expected to be able to get the vaccine by summer.

Recently, COVID-19 case counts, hospitalizations and deaths have been at their lowest levels since the start of the pandemic. Still, health officials are cautioning Minnesotans to continue to wear masks, social distance and get tested. Families with students in classrooms (or returning to classrooms soon) are advised to get tested every two weeks until the end of the school year.

Since the start of the pandemic last March, nearly 7.4 million COVID-19 tests have been processed in Minnesota, with 3.4 million individuals being tested. Of those who tested positive, 472,470 have recovered from the virus and no longer need to self-isolate.

In the last 24 hours, nearly 11,000 tests were processed in Minnesota, suggesting a positivity rate of 4%. According to the state’s Dial Back Dashboard, the rolling seven-day average positivity rate was at 3.5% as of Feb. 21, the lowest it’s been since last June, when testing was at a fraction of what it is now.