Minnesota tops 200K 1st doses of COVID-19 vaccine in single week
Daily vaccinations in Minnesota. (Theo Keith/FOX 9)
(FOX 9) - A total of 210,574 Minnesotans got a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the most recent week (March 25-31), marking the first time that number has topped 200,000 in a week. The Minnesota Department of Health data lags by a few days.
On this pace, 80% of adults in Minnesota would have at least one dose by Memorial Day and a complete vaccination by July 4.
MDH reports over 1.7 million Minnesotans now have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and nearly 1.1 million are fully vaccinated, which is about 39% and 25% of the state’s population respectively.
Nearly 82% of Minnesota seniors have at least one dose of the vaccine.
Anyone 16 years old and older is now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Minnesota.
Johnson and Johnson vaccine mix up will not impact Minnesota and how long term care residents can see family for Easter
The Minnesota Department of Health says a mix up that led to the spoiling of millions of vaccine doses will not impact the state's supply. Plus, Minnesota long-term care residents can go see family and friends for Easter and other holidays after an update from MDH.
Meanwhile, state health officials reported 2,553 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths on Friday.
Minnesota has now seen 524,203 COVID-19 cases and 6,864 deaths from the disease since the start of the pandemic.
The 2,553 newly reported cases were out of 50,517 tests—a 5.1% positivity rate. The seven-day rolling average positivity rate, a lagging indicator, has increased to 5.5%. Anything over 5% is a concern for MDH.
Variants appear to be driving the increase in COVID-19 infections in Minnesota. State medical director Ruth Lynfield said Thursday 54-66% of the state’s positive cases over a six-day period in late March were B117 variant cases.
Two of the four deaths reported on Friday were in long-term care facilities.
Hospitalizations are continuing to increase week-over-week. There are currently 439 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Minnesota, with 112 of them in the ICU, compared to 357 hospitalizations and 87 ICU cases at this time last week.
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