Latest on COVID-19 in MN: Half of adults have 1 dose of vaccination; state passes 7K deaths

3 things to know

• About 50.8 percent of 16-year-old Minnesotans received at least one vaccine dose, 35.4 percent were fully vaccinated

• Hospital admission, ICU trends hovering at winter levels; health officials say virus variants are likely to increase in new cases

• Active business reached 20,000 on Friday for the first time since December

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Updated: 11:30 am

More than half of Minnesota adults have now received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. But when the state reached that encouraging milestone on Saturday, it also saw its number of pandemics exceed 7,000.

Health Department calculations showed on Saturday that 50.8 percent of state residents aged 16 and older received at least one vaccine dose, with more than 35 percent completely vaccinated.

At the same time, known active cases are now at levels not seen since December.

Overall, this is a constant mix of hopeful and worrying news as the state works through another COVID-19 wave.

Here’s the latest from Minnesota COVID-19 statistics:

• 7,005 deaths (10 new); 554,536 positive cases; 95 percent discount on insulation

• 50.8 percent of adults with at least one dose; 35.4 percent completely vaccinated

• About 85 percent of Minnesotans 65 and older with at least one vaccine dose

Vaccinations firm

Data from Saturday’s health department showed that more than 1.5 million Minnesotans were fully vaccinated, while about 2.2 million received at least one dose, including about 85 percent of residents 65 and older. The agency has reported more than 85,000 additional vaccinations, among the highest total one-day so far.

However, a short-term decline comes in the vaccination rate due to the disruption of the Johnson & Johnson distribution.

The break was prompted by a joint recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration that providers should stop their distribution of the J&J vaccine while agencies investigate the extremely rare occurrence of blood clots.

The blood clots were found in six women – out of nearly 7 million vaccines given nationwide – between the ages of 18 and 48. Officials say they are unaware of cases of blood clots among the more than 184,000 state residents taking the single dose of vaccine.

At the current vaccination rate, 80 percent of Minnesotans 16 and older will have one dose by the end of May.

Ahead of this week’s J&J break and an earlier factory crash, officials were hopeful that a flood of new J&J vaccines would combine with existing Pfizer and Modern vaccines to take Minnesota’s vaccination rate to a new level. .

Hospital, ICU must soar at winter levels

The latest report shows 671 people in Minnesota hospitals with COVID-19 as of Thursday; 165 required intensive care and remained close to the highest number of ICU patients since early January.

Hospitalizations have climbed significantly in recent weeks, hovering around levels not seen since early January. Health officials say the coronavirus variants spreading in Minnesota are causing the increases.

The age of the newly hospitalized people is younger than earlier in the pandemic. The majority of people in the hospital for COVID-19 are under 60.

Although the numbers are still low compared to the end of November and early December, the rising trend is noticeable, given the concerns about the rise of the highly contagious UK variant, which state health officials suspect is driving the current upswing.

The number of known, active cases has been rising in recent weeks, with more than 20,000 since Friday’s report – the first time since December that active cases have exceeded the threshold.

Ten deaths reported on Saturday increased the total death toll from Minnesota to 7,005. Among the deceased, about 62 percent live in long-term care or relief facilities; most had underlying health problems.

The state has so far recorded 554,536 total confirmed or probable cases in the pandemic, including 2,429 posted Friday. About 95 percent of Minnesotans known to be infected with COVID-19 in the pandemic have recovered to the point that they no longer need to be isolated.

There are signs that the current wave could slow down. The percentage of tests that were positive for COVID-19 was basically flat this past week, about 6 percent after gradually growing in previous weeks.

The growth of new cases also appears to be significantly slowing.

Thanks to vaccinations, officials do not believe Minnesota will experience the kind of sharp rise in cases seen in November and December, but that does not mean the worst of the current wave is over.

“We are still in a precarious area,” state health commissioner Jan Malcolm said Thursday.

Regionally, all parts of Minnesota are in better shape than at the end of November and early December. However, the latest figures show that cases are creeping across the state.

Youth cases grow; state insists on weekly testing

Young people – some of whom are too young to be vaccinated – drive growth in cases nationwide.

The number of high school teens confirmed with the disease has grown, with more than 44,000 cases since the age of 15 to 19 since the pandemic began.

In a recent situation, the state health department sent an advice earlier this week to get everyone who attended the Northland Youth Wrestling Association tournament in Sioux Falls, SD, to be tested for COVID-19. The tournament has brought together 64 Minnesota teams from 52 counties – and now at least 29 cases have been detected in 13 schools across the state.

The state also requests that any student involved in youth sports or extracurricular activities of any kind be tested for COVID-19 each week.

As children increasingly return to school buildings and sports, public health officials in Minnesota are urging families in Minnesota to generally test for COVID-19 every two weeks until the end of the school year.

Although young people are less likely to experience the worst effects of the disease and are eventually admitted to the hospital, experts are concerned that they will unknowingly spread it to older family members and members of other vulnerable populations. Those with the coronavirus can spread it if they have no symptoms.

Cases, vaccinations among coloreds

In Minnesota and across the state, COVID-19 hit communities of color excessively hard in both cases and deaths. This is especially true for Minnesotans of Spanish descent for much of the pandemic.

Although the number of new cases is still lower than the end of November, in early December, the data showed that Latino residents are still being hit hard.

The vaccination rate for people of color also remains frustratingly slow compared to white Minnesotans.

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COVID-19 in Minnesota

The data in these graphs are based on the cumulative totals of Minnesota’s Department of Health released daily at 11 p.m. You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at the Website of the Department of Health.

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