AARP event helps answer seniors' questions about COVID-19 vaccine

(FOX 9) - During a phone town hall with AARP and the public Wednesday, Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm urged residents to be patient and discouraged calls to local clinics about vaccines because many are swamped.

The meeting comes after more than 225,000 people ages 65 and older in the state signed up for the state's lottery to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Answering vaccination questions for Minnesota seniors

An AARP sponsored event aimed to answer questions from Minnesota seniors who are trying to get the COVID-19 vaccination.

Malcolm stated on the call that there are 8,000 doses of vaccine as of Wednesday that could be distributed, and people within that age group who signed up will be selected randomly.

The biggest question from seniors is how long it will take the state to get through the estimated 900,000 people in this age group alone.

MORE: Everything you need to know about signing up for the COVID-19 vaccine lottery

"I have to be honest and say that the supply is growing pretty slowly at this point in time, so realistically, it will be a month before every clinic has enough vaccine to satisfy the demand," said Malcolm.

Malcolm said the state is only getting about 60,000 COVID-19 doses of weekly, but help could be on the way from the federal government to get vaccines out faster.

"The Biden administration just announced yesterday that they have ordered a 100 million more doses from Pfizer, the first manufacturer, and 100 million more doses from Moderna, the second manufacturer," she added.