3 things to know
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About 49 percent of adults 16 years and older in Minnesota received at least one vaccine dose, but vaccination rates are unlikely to accelerate in the next week.
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Hospital admissions, active case loading trends soar at winter levels; health officials believe that virus variants are likely to increase in new cases.
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Deaths remain flat, with another 11 added by the state.
Update: 12:34 pm
Minnesota’s new COVID-19 cases are still growing, but growth is slower than in recent weeks, blunted by the rate of vaccinations. Nevertheless, demand for the state’s hospital capacity continues to rise, while deaths have plummeted.
Here’s the latest from Minnesota COVID-19 statistics, from Thursday:
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6,989 deaths (11 were announced Thursday); 549,830 positive cases; 95 percent discount on insulation
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49 percent of adults with at least one dose; 33 percent completely vaccinated
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About 85 percent of Minnesotans 65 and older with at least one vaccine dose
Minnesota is on track to vaccinate 80 percent of adults by the end of May
Despite a temporary outage of vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, Minnesota is on track to vaccinate 80 percent of adults by May 22, according to an MPR News analysis.
And for the first time, younger adults between 18 and 49 were vaccinated slightly faster than people between 50 and 64, a sign that Minnesotans in all age groups are eager to get their shots.
MPR News’ data reporter David Montgomery projects the current vaccination data in the future to show when most Minnesotans will be vaccinated at different times.
Yet the vaccination rate of Minnesota is going to drop.
Last week, the state had record high allocations of about 30,000 first doses per day. This week, the state will allocate about 20,000 doses a day, a trend driven by the halt in the distribution of Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
A Joint Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration recommend that providers discontinue their distribution of the J&J vaccine while agencies investigate the exceptionally 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, and occurred six to 13 days after vaccination. Officials say they are unaware of cases of blood clots occurring in the more than 184,000 state residents who received the single dose of vaccine.
Ahead of this week’s J&J break and an earlier accident at the factory, officials were hopeful that a flood of new J&J vaccines would combine with existing Pfizer and Modern vaccines to turn the Minnesota vaccination rate into a new one. increase level.
The latest figures still suggest the state could reach a hopeful milestone – half of adults with at least one vaccine dose – by the end of this week or early next week.
About 33 percent of Minnesota adults are completely vaccinated; 49 percent received at least one vaccine dose, including 85 percent of residents 65 years and older, the health department said.
Business is slowly rising
Meanwhile, the number of cases will continue to rise – but not as fast as in previous weeks.
Minnesota on Thursday reported about 2,700 new COVID-19 cases, a jump over the past few days. Overall, the trend is still upward, but there are signs of a possible plateau.
The total death toll from Minnesota in Pandemic rose to 6,989 on Thursday. Among the deceased, about 62 percent lived in long-term care or relief facilities; most had underlying health problems.
The state has so far recorded 549,830 confirmed or probable cases in the pandemic, including 2,736 that were posted Wednesday. 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.
Hospital, ICU needs increase
Hospitalizations have risen significantly in recent weeks to levels not seen since January, and deaths linked to the disease are also on the rise. Health officials say the coronavirus variants spreading in Minnesota are causing the increases.
The state reported 699 people in Minnesota hospitals with COVID-19 on Wednesday; 168 requiring intensive care, and is close to the highest number of ICU patients since early January.
By admissions date, new non-ICU admissions have increased by about 35 percent over the past two weeks. Admission to ICU is 20 percent higher.
Although the numbers are still low, the upward trend is striking compared to the end of November and early December, given the concerns about the emergence of the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant – which was first introduced in the UK identified – which state health officials said they suspect the current upswing.
Jan Malcolm, state health commissioner, recently said the increase is in cases of importance, but that the increasing number of vaccines in Minnesota means the state is unlikely to see a strong increase in cases of magnitude in November and December.
Cases among young people growing up
The number of high school teens confirmed with the disease has grown, with more than 43,000 cases since the age of 15 to 19 since the pandemic.
As children increasingly return to school buildings and sports, public health officials in Minnesota are urging Minnesota families to have children tested 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 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 show that Latino people are still being hit hard.
Latest developments from around Minnesota
CentraCare responds to J&J vaccine questions
CentraCare, a central healthcare provider in Minnesota, has administered the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at several mobile vaccination centers, including a St. Cloud Mosque.
On Tuesday comes the joint recommendation of the FDA and CDC to suspend the administration of J&J vaccine.
Mahado Ali, CentraCare’s supervisor on cultural competence and fair health, said the news expressed concern among those who received the vaccine.
“However, we were very committed to the imams and the health workers in the community to make sure that the right information is available to patients and that all their questions are answered,” Ali said.
According to CentraCare, no reports have been received of anyone developing symptoms of the rare blood clotting condition found in six people who received the vaccine, out of nearly 7 million nationwide.
On a local Somali TV station, dr. Kim Tjaden, medical director of community health, described the potential symptoms, including severe headache, shortness of breath, leg pain or severe abdominal pain.
“If you have received this vaccine and you are developing the symptoms, we want you to call the Department of Health,” Tjaden said. CentraCare still believes that COVID-19 vaccines are very safe and that the break is likely to be. temporary.
– Kirsti Marohn | MPR News
Peacetime emergency order extended
Government Tim Walz has extended a peacetime emergency order linked to COVID-19 for another 30 days.
The move was ratified Wednesday by a panel of government officials.
The emergency has been in effect since March 2020. This allows Walz to make decisions outside of normal procedures.
The governor said he wanted to change the executive in future. But he said it could end up directly hampering efforts to spread vaccines quickly and conduct wide-ranging tests.
He also said some federal money was linked to the emergency statement.
“The frustration lies between mitigation efforts around the health condition and our ability to use it,” Walz said. ‘Because if we start being specific and say,’ Do you want us to end the vaccine sites? No, no, do not discontinue the vaccines. Do you want us to end supplementary nutrition programs? No, no, do not stop supplemental nutrition programs. ‘Ultimately, it’s just getting rid of the mask mandate. ”
Republicans in the legislature want Walz to relinquish authority and involve legislators in more decisions.
Jan Malcolm, health commissioner, said there were still trends over the spread of viruses – including the state’s test positivity rate, which she said was again higher than 7 percent.
According to her, the rate is higher than in recent months and comparable to the levels seen last autumn.
– Brian Bakst | MPR News
COVID-19 in Minnesota
The data in these graphs are based on the cumulative totals of the Department of Health in Minnesota 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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