MDH COVID-19 briefing: ‘Minnesota is on track’ — Enough doses received and distributed to vaccinate everyone in 1st tier of Phase 1A

Monday, Minnesota health officials provided the latest update on the state’s COVID-19 situation and the vaccination efforts.

Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm and Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann provided some good news to start the new year. They said, as of Monday, the state has received enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to vaccinate everyone in the first tier (of three) of Phase 1A.

While not all of those have been administered yet, she said it’s important to note that it’s a complex process that takes some time but progress is being made. She also said the state expects to ramp up vaccinations as it continues to receive more doses.

Later in the day, MDH announced that enough doses had now been distributed to first priority health care workers to cover the entire first tier of phast 1A.

Malcolm said MDH believes it will take most, if not all, of January to have enough doses to vaccinate everyone in Phase 1A. Minnesota’s coronavirus working group has not yet determined who will all fall in Phase 1B in the state based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ recommendations.

The two also talked about the speed at which people are being vaccinated, saying that they know some Minnesotans are frustrated or think vaccinations are happening too slowly. But Ehresmann reassured people that "Minnesota is on track."

Ehresmann noted, as of Dec. 30, Minnesota received 221,000 vaccine doses and 85,200 of those were diverted to the federal program that administers the vaccine to skilled nursing workers through CVS Health, Walgreens and Thrifty White. The state also has the 16th most doses administered per 100,000 people in the country and is vaccinating residents at a similar rate as states of similar size.

MDH is expecting to receive 32,700 Moderna doses and 33,150 Pfizer doses this week, Ehresmann said.

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Malcolm and Ehresmann also noted that a surge in cases is expected now that the holidays are past.

If national indications of increased travel and gatherings are true in Minnesota, too, Malcolm said MDH is expected to see a larger surge of cases from the Christmas and New Year’s holidays than what happened after Thanksgiving. However, it will take a few weeks to determine how large that surge may be, and Malcolm noted that Minnesotans have done a good job of following COVID-19 guidance.

Malcolm added that Minnesota’s rate of decrease has been slightly steeper than other Midwest states.

Currently, Minnesota’s rates are stable but there is still some concerning data.

More hospital beds are being used now than during the peak in May, although it’s slightly below what levels were at in November. Malcolm added that admittance to hospitals continues to decline.

While new case growth has slowed "considerably," according to Malcolm, rates remain very high and are still above what the case growth was in late September and early October.

Malcolm and Ehresmann urged Minnesotans to continue following the guidance they’ve heard all throughout the pandemic: wear masks, social distance and stay home when feeling sick.

13 new deaths, 3,148 new cases reported by MDH