One-Fifth of Minnesota’s Seniors Have Gotten a COVID Vaccine, But Reaching the Rest Could Take Months

From left, North Memorial Systems Director of Pharmacy Services Paul Krogh, Chief Administrative Officer Samantha Hanson, Vice President of Operations Steve Horstmann and CEO Dr. Kevin Croston took a moment, in silence, and looked at the box containing 975 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine which just arrived at North Memorial Health Hospital, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 in Robbinsdale, Minn. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP, Pool)

(KNSI) – Minnesota is nearing some key milestones in its COVID-19 vaccination effort. This week, the state’s total number of people getting at least one dose should reach half a million, and so far, about one-fifth of Minnesotans 65 and older have gotten their first dose.

The latest numbers from Minnesota’s COVID-19 Vaccine Data webpage show that 8.1 percent of Minnesotans have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. About a quarter of those recipients have gotten their second dose. Additionally, more than 161,000 Minnesotans age 65 and older have received at least one vaccine dose — that’s 19.5 percent of the state’s senior population.

“Our population of individuals 65 and older is 918,000 people,” state infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann said.

“Even with those 35,000 doses, that’s only about four percent of that population,” she continued, referencing the vaccine allotment earmarked for Minnesota’s seniors this week.

With the state’s current vaccine supply, it could take as many as 16 weeks to vaccinate all of Minnesota’s seniors, Ehresmann said. There are ways that period of time could shorten in the coming weeks, such as if the federal government increases the state’s weekly vaccine shipments or if other COVID-19 vaccine candidates receive emergency use authorization.

“Don’t be discouraged if you can’t get a vaccine appointment yet or are not in one of the groups currently eligible to get vaccine,” Ehresmann said. “There will be opportunities for everyone who wants to be vaccinated to get it, but it will take time.”

So far, Minnesota’s effort to prioritize vaccinating long-term care and assisted living residents and staff is making an impact on case growth.

“We averaged 64 new COVID cases per day in all congregate care settings combined this past week,” MDH Commissioner Jan Malcolm said. “That’s the first week since late September that we’ve seen numbers that low. We didn’t hit 100 cases at all in the past seven days, so we are very pleased to see that stability in the congregate care sector and looking forward to continuing to make good progress through vaccination of residents and staff so that we can keep that situation very stable.”

Ehresmann said the state has finished its first round of vaccination clinics at skilled nursing facilities with an 81-percent vaccine uptake among residents so far.

“We’re starting into the period of time now for second doses, and at last report, around 13 percent of residents had already received that second dose,” Ehresmann said.

As of January 31st, 447,610 Minnesotans have gotten at least one vaccine dose. From that number, 116,928 have completed the two-dose vaccination series. In the week of January 24th to the 30th, healthcare professionals administered 187,915 vaccine doses across the state.