REGIONAL- As far too many Minnesotans continue to scramble for far too few COVID-19 vaccine doses being disbursed throughout the state, officials are touting two pieces of good news this week about the vaccination effort.
Minnesota’s vaccination rate was mired in the bottom half of states two weeks ago when Gov. Tim Walz issued new directions that 90 percent of vaccines received by providers in the state had to be administered within 72 hours of receiving them, and the remainder used within a week. Several days later, Walz announced that a slight increase in vaccine supply for seniors 65 and over would be distributed through more than 100 clinics, hospitals, state community vaccination sites, and other locations. The state also launched an online vaccine locator map indicating what providers were receiving doses that week, and reported that three large-scale, permanent state community vaccination sites would be opening in Duluth, Minneapolis, and another southern Minnesota site yet to be determined. The number of available vaccines was increased in part by reallocating unused doses from the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, as well as receiving an additional 11,000 doses from the federal government.
The moves have apparently paid dividends, as the Centers for Disease Control state rankings on Monday had Minnesota with the 13th highest vaccination rate in the country, with 78.43 percent of the 950,250 total doses delivered to the state having been administered. As of Sunday, 569,164 people had received at least one vaccine dose, and 162,132 had completed the two-dose regimen. In St. Louis County, the number of first doses administered was 30,167, with the number of those who have completed the series at 8,431.
When the state changed eligibility requirements to allow anyone 65 and older, teachers, and childcare workers to receive the vaccine, about 1.1 million people were added to the pool of people seeking one of 60,000 weekly doses being shipped to the state. The shift created overwhelming demand that has threatened to swamp the phone lines of some community health care clinics that have received limited doses of the vaccine, and more than 220,000 people 65 and over registered for random selection for appointments for 6,000 doses of vaccine distributed through nine pilot community vaccination sites.
Minnesotans have even more options for vaccinations with Walz’s announcement on Monday that selected Walmart and ThriftyWhite pharmacies, including ThriftyWhites in Virginia and Hibbing, would start receiving limited doses of vaccine through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, available for those 65 and over by appointment only. The vaccine locator map was updated to include links to appointment registration sites. Walz also reallocated 8,000 doses to be administered by 40 Walgreens pharmacies across the state. Reservations for appointments at the ThriftyWhite locations in Virginia and Hibbing were snapped up within a few hours of being opened on Tuesday.
Area COVID news
The North Country region also got a double dose of good news this week.
The seven-day average case rate used to assess the potential for community spread of the virus dropped to 2.7 in northern St. Louis County on Feb. 3, according to the most recent data available from the county health department. The last time the seven-day case rate was this low was last August, and it represents a dramatic drop from November’s high of 76.1.
For a second consecutive week, only six new positive COVID cases were reported in the combined zip code areas of Orr, Cook, Tower, Soudan, Ely and Embarrass. It was the third consecutive week of no new cases in Soudan, and the second week in a row no new cases were identified in Ely.
The numbers reflect trends being observed statewide, but health officials caution that two highly contagious variants of the coronavirus could lead to a resurgence in cases unless people continue to follow COVID safety protocols for mask wearing, social distancing, and gathering in small groups.