Malcolm said MDH believes it will take most, if not all, of January to have enough doses to vaccinate everyone in phase 1A. The coronavirus working group in Minnesota has not yet determined who will fall into the state in Phase 1B, based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committees for Immunization Practices.
The two also talked about the speed with which people are being vaccinated, saying that they know that some Minnesotans are frustrated, or that vaccinations are happening too slowly. But Ehresmann reassured people that “Minnesota is on track.”
Ehresmann noted that on December 30, Minnesota received 221,000 vaccine doses and 85,200 of them were administered to the federal program that administers the vaccine to competent nursing staff through CVS Health, Walgreens, and Thrifty White. The state also has the 16th highest doses per 100,000 people in the country and is vaccinated against residents as of similar magnitude.
MDH expects to receive 32,700 doses of Moderna and 33,150 doses of Pfizer this week, Ehresmann said.
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Malcolm and Ehresmann also noted that an increase in cases is expected now that the holiday is over.
If the national indications of increasing travel and gatherings are also true in Minnesota, Malcolm said MDH is expected to see a larger increase in cases from the Christmas and New Year holidays than happened after Thanksgiving. However, it will take a few weeks to determine how big the boom may be, and Malcolm noted that Minnesotans have done a good job of following COVID-19 leadership.
Malcolm added that the decline in Minnesota was slightly steeper than other Midwest states.
Currently, Minnesota rates are stable, but there is still information regarding data.
More hospital beds are now used than during the peak in May, although it was slightly lower than in November. Malcolm added that admission to hospitals is still declining.
While the growth of new cases, according to Malcolm, has slowed ‘significantly’, rates remain very high and are still higher than the growth in the case at the end of September and early October.
Malcolm and Ehresmann urged Minnesotans to continue the guidance they heard throughout the pandemic: wear masks, social distance and stay home when you feel sick.
13 new deaths, 3148 new cases reported by MDH