Minnesota State Fairgrounds to serve as COVID-19 vaccination site

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Minnesota State Fairgrounds will serve as a federally-supported COVID-19 mass vaccination site, state and federal officials announced Monday. 

The site will administer a combination of 168,000 Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson doses of the vaccine over eight weeks, which will result in over 100,000 total people being vaccinated, according to a news release from Gov. Tim Walz’s office. 

The doses administered at the fairgrounds will be in addition to Minnesota’s regular statewide vaccine allocations.

Vaccinations will begin at the fairgrounds on April 14 and serve Minnesotans living in the highest Social Vulnerability Index zip codes near the fairgrounds. Appointments will be available to Minnesotans 16 years of age and older who live in the following zip codes in Ramsey and Hennepin County: 55454, 55103, 55130, 55411, 55404, 55117, 55428, 55119, 55107, 55106, 55407, 55430, 55412, 55102, 55429, 55421, 55104, 55114, 55432, 55118, 55420, 55413, 55402, 55109, 55406, 55423, 55415, 55405, 55408, 55425, 55112, 55111, 55403, 55101, 55344, 55435, 55113, 55458.

The site will be by appointment only. Minnesotans living in those zip codes can sign up for the Vaccine Connector to be selected for an appointment. People can also call Minnesota Department of Health COVID-19 Public Hotline at 1-833-431-2053 for language assistance and any questions about signing up for the Vaccine Connector. 

The site will be supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but it will be run by the state like the other eight community vaccination sites currently operating in Oakdale, Minneapolis, Duluth, Rochester, Bloomington, Saint Paul, St. Cloud and Mankato.

As with the other community vaccination sites, there will be no cost and Minnesotans will not need to provide an ID or medical insurance to be vaccinated.

Walz and Minnesota public health officials recommended the Minnesota State Fairgrounds as a federal vaccination site to help provide additional vaccine doses to vulnerable and underrepresented populations in the state. FEMA selected the site based on equity data analysis, including the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index.