Vaccine supply boost expected as state increases number of vaccination sites
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Minnesotans are now entering the third week of state efforts to vaccinate people over 65 and, for a third week, the plan has changed.
Though there will be no new signups Tuesday, health officials say more vaccine is coming and there are more ways to get it.
The state will now make more than 35,000 doses available to Minnesotans 65 and older and there will be nearly 100 more locations where they can get vaccinated. Three of those include permanent community vaccination centers.
Minnesota to launch 2 permanent vaccination sites, make 35K doses available for those 65+ this week
Seniors can check a new vaccine locater on the Minnesota Department of Health’s COVID-19 website to find the location of the nearest vaccine to them and contact information for that site.
FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2021, file photo, Aspen Valley Hospital clinical pharmacist Kelly Atkinson organizes the empty vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the command unit trailer set up next to the vaccination tent in the Benedict Music Tent parking lot in Aspen, Colo. Uncertainty over the pace of federal COVID-19 vaccine allotments triggered anger and confusion Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, in some states where officials worried that expected shipments would not be forthcoming.[Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times via AP]
Any seniors who were placed on the waiting list during last week’s lottery will stay on that list to be randomly selected for vaccine appointments in Duluth and Minneapolis. The third location will be in southern Minnesota and will open next week.
As for seniors who have already had their first dose of the vaccine at the nine temporary vaccine sites over the past two weeks, they will still get their second doses on the dates they’ve already scheduled.
This age group totals nearly a million Minnesotans, so health officials are now asking people to be patient.
"Please remember the doses are still limited even with this good news," health officials said during a Monday news conference call. "So we don’t have enough vaccine for everyone who wants to be vaccinated right now, but we know vaccine will continue to come and there will be more and more options for people to be vaccinated."
The state’s health department says that won’t change until there is a "dramatic" increase in vaccines from the federal government.
Along with seniors, child care workers and educators can still get vaccinated in Minneapolis and other health clinics across the state.