Half of Minnesotans Have Received COVID-19 Vaccine, MDH Data Shows

(KNSI) – The Minnesota Department of Health’s data says that as of Tuesday, 50 percent of the state’s population is now vaccinated against COVID-19 with at least one dose. So far, 2,780,666 Minnesotans have gotten the shot, and 2.4 million of them are now considered fully vaccinated.

Five months ago, the very first COVID-19 shots approved for emergency use were being delivered into the arms of American health care workers.

To date, the CDC says 47.9 percent of Americans have received at least one vaccine dose.

Between Monday and Tuesday, Minnesota reports 31,283 new first doses given. An MDH spokesperson clarified that around 24,000 of those first doses were due to a data backlog for Minnesotans who got their vaccinations from North Dakota providers since January. A similar boost to the state’s new first doses given will happen Friday as the MDH reports doses administered by Iowa providers to Minnesota residents.

While the Vaccine Data doesn’t yet reflect the number of 12-to-15-year-olds who have gotten vaccinated, the MDH spokesperson said most, but not all, of the 29,312 doses categorized in the “Unknown/missing” age group represent teens. The department is working on posting vaccine data for that distinct age group.

Minnesota does see 874 new COVID cases and eight deaths on Thursday. None of those deaths were reported in the St. Cloud area, but there are 97 new cases: 13 in Benton County, six in Morrison County, 28 in Sherburne County, 23 in Stearns County and 27 in Wright County. In Minnesota’s hospitals, 412 people are hospitalized for COVID-19.

The state processed 31,604 tests Wednesday for a one-day test positivity rate of 2.8 percent.

Note: This story was updated at 2 p.m. Thursday to reflect new information from the MDH on the data backlog.

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