Updated: 11h25
3 things to know:
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Vaccination rate increases, but is still below the previous week
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Hospitalizations up to September levels
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Officials warn against attending big Super Bowl parties
Nearly 10 percent of Minnesota residents have already received at least the first injection of the COVID-19 vaccine – but anyone looking for an uptrend trend line should be disappointed this week.
After a stumble earlier in the week, Minnesota’s COVID-19 vaccination counts increased for four consecutive days, reaching 36,000 in Saturday’s report. But the numbers still don’t correspond to last week’s levels.
The 36,502 doses of vaccine administered recently reported on Saturday by the Minnesota Department of Health compared to more than 44,000 doses reported the previous Saturday.
At the current rate, authorities estimate that it may take four months to vaccinate all Minnesotans aged 65 and over.
Meanwhile, a coalition of Minnesota hospitals sent a letter to state health commissioner Jan Malcolm on Friday, saying the state’s COVID-19 vaccine delivery system is hurting patients. They are asking the Health Department to give more injections to healthcare professionals to distribute – noting that some clinics have not received doses for days, which prevents them from vaccinating older and vulnerable patients.
In a statement, Malcolm said that MDH notified the hospital’s association in an email on Friday that there would be changes to a “random process” for small and medium-sized providers. Read more here.
Here are the current ones from Minnesota COVID-19 Statistics:
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6,289 deaths (17 new)
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467,217 positive cases (1,030 new), 452,183 out of isolation (97 percent)
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6.8 million tests, 3.3 million tested Minnesotans (about 58 percent of the population)
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9.5 percent of Minnesotans vaccinated with at least one dose
The image of the pandemic remains stable, mainly positive
COVID-19 metrics continue to show that Minnesota is doing well hopefully, especially in hospitalizations.
Saturday’s Department of Health data showed disease trends in the right direction, despite an increase in the number of active cases. The known and active cases are at 8,745, similar to the levels of the beginning of October and still significantly below about 50,000 at the end of November.
Counts also continue to look good in hospitalizations – 362 Minnesota residents were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Thursday, with 82 needing intensive care. ICU cases have remained at levels not seen since September.
Seventeen recently reported deaths increased Minnesota’s death toll to 6,289 on Saturday. Among those who died, about 63% lived in long-term care facilities; most had latent health problems.
The state recorded 467,217 confirmed or probable total cases so far in the pandemic, including 1,030 reported on Saturday. About 97 percent of Minnesota residents known to be infected with COVID-19 in the pandemic have recovered to the point that they no longer need to be isolated.
State officials continue to warn that the pandemic is not over yet, looking at new strains of the virus arriving in the United States, including two cases of the Brazilian strain and 16 of the UK variant in Minnesota.
They are also trying to dissuade people from attending major Super Bowl meetings this Sunday, due to continuing concerns about the spread of the virus.
Cases spread across age groups, regions
People in their 20s still make up the age group with the highest number of confirmed cases in the state – almost 89,000 since the start of the pandemic, including almost 47,000 among people aged 20 to 24.
The number of school-age youth confirmed with the disease has also grown, with more than 36,000 cases in total between 15 and 19 years since the pandemic began.
Although they are less likely to experience the worst effects of the disease and end up hospitalized, experts fear that young people and young adults may spread the disease unknowingly to older relatives and members of other vulnerable populations.
People can have the coronavirus and spread COVID-19 when they have no symptoms.
The number of cases is decreasing in all regions of the state after a blip in late December, early January.
The number of cases is even heavier among people of color
In Minnesota and across the country, COVID-19 hit communities of color disproportionately in cases and deaths. This was especially true for Minnesota residents during much of the pandemic.
Even with the count of new cases falling since the peaks of late November, early December, the data show that people of color remain the hardest hit.
Mistrust in the government, along with deep-seated economic and health disparities, has hampered efforts to increase testing among communities of color, officials say, especially among unauthorized immigrants who fear that their personal information could be used to deport them.
‘Everyone will have to be patient’
State public health leaders have been pleading for patience with the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations.
More than 525,000 Minnesota residents received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine until Saturday’s report, which included data as of Thursday. This represents about 9.5% of the state’s population. About 2.7 percent completed a complete series of vaccines.
Concerns continue to simmer about the speed of the effort – and the confusion that is generated as people struggle to find out when and where they can make an attempt.
Earlier this week, officials said it could take up to four months to vaccinate Minnesotans aged 65 or older, if the feds did not distribute more vaccines more quickly; about 20 percent of that priority population received at least the first dose.
“We are vaccinating the Minnesotans safely and quickly as supplies reach us,” Kris Ehresmann, the state’s director of infectious diseases, told reporters on Tuesday. But “we just don’t have enough vaccine and everyone will have to be patient”.
Minnesota will receive about 84,000 more doses next week, which will be shared among tribal nations, people over 65, educators, group home residents and others.
Nearly half will go to health professionals who have not yet been vaccinated, although they are in a high priority category, said Ehresmann earlier this week, estimating that about 80,000 health workers in the state have not yet been vaccinated.
COVID-19 in Minnesota
The data in these charts are based on the Minnesota Department of Health cumulative totals released daily at 11 am You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at Department of Health website.
Latest developments
Vaccination weekend set for Minneapolis Convention Center
The state of Minnesota launched a new large-scale vaccination site at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
The state expects to vaccinate 9,500 people, including people aged 65 and over, teachers and childcare providers over the weekend. Other sites will open in Duluth and southern Minnesota in the coming days, and will remain open indefinitely.
The sites will be operated by Vault Health, which runs the state’s saliva testing program.
Dan Feehan, a former Minnesota congressional candidate, now leads Vault’s national vaccine program, including in Minnesota.
“This is incredibly exciting. People are waiting and looking for an opportunity like this: not just to get vaccinated, but easily, efficiently and with a transfer rate high enough that we can reach many more people,” he said.
Vault Health chose names at random for nominations from a list of people who pre-registered for vacancies during the initial launch of the pilot vaccine program in January, Feehan said.
– Catharine Richert | MPR News
Top headlines
Minnesota hospitals say the state’s vaccine distribution is at an ‘unsustainable crossroads’: In a letter to the Minnesota Department of Health, a coalition of Minnesota hospitals says the state’s vaccine delivery system is unfair, leaving some clinics and hospitals without doses to give older, vulnerable patients.
Amidst great demand, food shelves encourage people to seek help: One of the nation’s largest food banks – Minnesota-based Second Harvest Heartland – says it is seeing huge demand for its services in the midst of the pandemic. And it is encouraging people in need to go to a food shelf.
Distant actors, team gathers for the new show of Theater Mu: After months of planning and pandemic restrictions still in place, Theater Mu in St. Paul will launch its main season on Saturday with a new production blending theater and film – a play that has been designed and speaks to the times we live in.
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