Over 2M Minnesotans have completed COVID-19 vaccine series; 17 new deaths reported

The Minnesota Department of Health on Wednesday reported 17 new deaths from COVID-19 and 1,267 newly reported positive COVID-19 tests.

Meanwhile, there have been a total of 4.42 million COVID-19 vaccinations administered in Minnesota, with 2.3 million receiving the Pfizer vaccine, 1.9 million receiving the Moderna vaccine and 198,600 receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to MDH. Another 14 vaccinations are considered "unknown/missing" in the data.

So far, over 2 million people have completed the vaccine series, according to MDH data.

"I am grateful for the 2 million Minnesotans who rolled up their sleeves and completed their vaccine series to protect themselves and their community against this deadly disease," Governor Tim Walz said in a statement Wednesday. "Every Minnesotan who gets a shot in their arm brings us closer to closing this chapter and getting back to all the things in life we want to get back to. I encourage everyone who patiently waited their turn to get us to this milestone today to now take their turn, get their shot as soon as possible, and bring about the brighter days that are just around the corner."

Walz said getting from 1 million to 2 million vaccine series completed took one-third of the time as getting the first million vaccine series done.

Appointments at nine state vaccination sites can be scheduled here.

Of the 1,267 newly reported cases, 243 of them are noted as probable cases, according to MDH. A total of 39,940 probable cases have been reported since antigen testing began in September.

So far, 7,191 people have died from the coronavirus in Minnesota. Of those deaths, 395 are listed as probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 4,374 long-term care facility deaths have been reported.

To date, 30,691 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized in Minnesota and 6,246 patients have been in the ICU.

According to MDH, the new positive COVID-19 cases in Minnesota reported on Wednesday moved the state’s total to 582,576 since pandemic record-keeping began. A total of 562,376 patients have recovered or are recovering and no longer need isolation.

As of Wednesday, over 9.4 million COVID-19 tests have been completed in Minnesota.

KSTP’s complete COVID-19 coverage

See the full Minnesota COVID-19 situation update here.

According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering, the virus has infected more than 154.5 million people worldwide and killed over 3.23 million people.

Over 91 million people worldwide have recovered as of Wednesday.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, patients with confirmed COVID-19 have mild to severe respiratory problems, with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. Some patients report a loss of smell and/or taste and having muscle aches, headache, sore throat, and/or chills and shaking.

Note: According to MDH – "Because all data are preliminary, the change in number of cumulative positive cases and deaths from one day to the next may not equal the newly reported cases or deaths."