Latest on COVID-19 in MN: The new vaccination site for communities opens Monday

3 things to know:

• About 10 percent of Minnesotans received at least one vaccine dose.

• The second community’s vaccination site opens Monday.

• Important COVID-19 criteria that fall steadily or slowly.

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The COVID-19 vaccination effort in Minnesota will increase this week, with a community vaccination site in Duluth on Monday and another to open in southern Minnesota in the coming days.

They will join an existing community site in Minneapolis as the state enters the second week of February, with about 10 percent of Minnesotans receiving at least the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The state has reached the milestone since Sunday’s update of the Minnesota Department of Health, which reflects the data. That’s just over 554,000 people. About 2.8 percent of Minnesotans – nearly 157,000 people – received both doses to complete their vaccination.

And the state is slowly making progress in vaccinating people 65 and older. Just over 27 percent of the age group in Minnesota have now received at least one dose of the vaccine.

But the rate of vaccinations remains a source of frustration, with government officials saying they need more vaccinations to meet demand. Minnesota took a step back last week, with fewer vaccinations than the previous week.

Over the past week, the average averaged about 25,800 doses per day. It declined from more than 31,000 a day a week ago.

Here is the stream of Minnesota COVID-19 statistics:

• 6,299 deaths (10 new)

• 468 118 positive cases (914 new), 453 225 discounts on isolation (97 percent)

• 6.8 million tests, 3.3 million Minnesotans tested (about 58 percent of the population)

• 10 percent of Minnesotans vaccinated with at least one dose

COVID-19 statistics still show Minnesota holding its own mark, with levels of new cases, hospital admissions and deaths at their lowest point since last fall.

Ten newly reported deaths increased Minnesota’s toll to 6,299 on Sunday. Among the deceased, about 63 percent lived in long-term care or assistance facilities; most had underlying health problems.

Government officials continue to warn that the encouraging trends are still weak, noting the new virus strains arriving in the United States, including two cases of the Brazilian strain and 16 of the British variant in Minnesota.

And they encouraged people to avoid large gatherings to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday.

In the coming weeks, health officials will be alert to signs of an increasing number of cases related to the virus variants – and social gatherings -.

Cases spread across age groups, regions

People in their twenties still consist of the age group with the largest number of confirmed cases of the state – nearly 89,000 since the pandemic began, including nearly 47,000 among people aged 20 to 24 years.

The number of high school teens confirmed with the disease has also grown, with more than 36,000 total cases among those aged 15 to 19 years since the pandemic began.

Although less likely to experience the worst effects of the disease and eventually be admitted to hospital, experts are concerned that young people will unknowingly spread it among older family members and members of other vulnerable populations.

People can have the coronavirus and spread COVID-19 if they have no symptoms.

Caseloads tend in all regions of the state towards the end of December, in early January.

Cases are still the heaviest 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 continues to decline from the end of November, to early December, the data show that coloreds are still hit the hardest.

The mistrust of the government, coupled with deep-rooted health and economic disparities, hampered efforts to promote testing among color communities, officials say, especially among unauthorized immigrants who fear their personal information could be used to deport them.

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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 information about COVID-19 at Website of the Department of Health.

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Latest developments

The state’s second vaccination site opens in Duluth on Monday, with 1,500 people aged 65 and older expected to receive their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The people selected for appointments were randomly selected from the more than 225,000 people who registered with the state last month for the chance to be selected.

The website at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center joins another website that opened at the Minneapolis Convention Center last week. State officials say they plan to open a third site in southern Minnesota this week.

While most seniors in Minnesota are vaccinated by their healthcare providers at hospitals, clinics, or pharmacies, government officials said these community sites are necessary to reach people who do not have a good relationship with providers.

The large-scale vaccination sites replace nine pilot clinics set up by the state last month to administer vaccinations to people aged 65 and older who had previously registered with the state’s lottery system.

For those who have received their first doses on one of the pilot programs, they will be contacted to schedule an appointment for their second admission.

Others who have registered and who have not yet been contacted will have the chance to be selected for an appointment as more doses of the vaccine are available.

“We appreciate Minnesotans’ continued patience as we work through our pilot program,” Jason Metsa told the state’s emergency operations center.

State officials say so far, 6,000 doses have been allocated to community vaccination sites in Minneapolis and Duluth.

Vault Health, which runs several saliva tests in the state, also manages the vaccination sites.

At the Duluth site, rows of tables have been set up, where nurses will deliver the shots to people with appointments. Behind the tables, people will sit in rows of chairs that have been socially removed after receiving their shots. Shawn Baxley, Vault Health, says people should stay at least 15 minutes for observation.

“We have a medical doctor working with different clinics like advanced practitioners, like nurses,” Baxley said. “Every person who gets a chance gets one-on-one at one of the clinicians where they can ask questions.”

While people from all over Minnesota could be eligible to sign up for the lottery, it is unclear exactly how far people will travel to Duluth, under temperatures below zero. Minnesota hospitals recently criticized the lottery system for people 65 and older, saying the sites in Duluth and Minneapolis are out of reach for people living in the western part of the state.

Metsa, with the state’s emergency operations center, said the state would continue to work with hospitals and other partners to get through the pandemic. He said the state will not leave a stone unturned when it comes to getting the vaccine out as quickly as possible.

– Dan Kraker | MPR News

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Top headlines

Minnesota hospitals say the distribution of the vaccine through the state is at an ‘unsustainable crossroads’: In a letter to the Minnesota Department of Health, a coalition of Minnesota hospitals says the state’s vaccine distribution system is unfair, leaving some clinics and hospitals without doses to give to elderly, vulnerable patients.