Walz announces updated COVID-19 vaccine plan; most seniors to be vaccinated by April

Feb. 25—MANKATO — A new goal announced Thursday by Gov. Tim Walz calls for 70% of Minnesotans aged 65 and older to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March.

About 43% of residents in that age group received the vaccine as of Thursday, according to a release from the governor's office.

His announcement came as the state expects more doses to arrive in the coming weeks, after severe weather elsewhere in the country caused distribution snags last week.

Vaccine eligibility would expand to people with high-risk health conditions and targeted essential workers once the state reaches its goal for older Minnesotans in the early spring. Younger groups and the general public would follow in the late spring and summer.

"Older Minnesotans have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic and we are focused on making sure they get vaccinated and keeping them safe," Walz stated in a release. "These vaccines work — we can see that in the plummeting cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in long-term care facilities around our state. We will continue working with a robust network of providers to vaccinate all Minnesota seniors who need the most protection against COVID-19 right away."

The vast majority of COVID deaths in the state occurred in people ages 65 and older, nearly 90%. Apart from front-line health workers, much of the early vaccine distribution has focused on older residents and those living in long-term care facilities.

Walz's office released the new goal just before the latest COVID numbers came out showing 45 newly confirmed cases and no new deaths in south-central Minnesota counties. The area's pandemic death toll remained at 211.

Statewide, there were seven more COVID deaths. Minnesota's pandemic toll rose to 6,450.

The 45 new cases in the south-central region were within range of the average daily upticks for February. There were more new cases confirmed Wednesday, but fewer on Monday and Tuesday.

Le Sueur and Brown counties had the most new cases with eight each. Nicollet and Martin counties each had seven, while Blue Earth County had six.

The full list of newly confirmed cases by county includes:

* Le Sueur County — 8

* Brown County — 8

* Nicollet County — 7

* Martin County — 7

* Blue Earth County — 6

* Watonwan County — 3

* Faribault County — 3

* Waseca County — 2

* Sibley County — 1

During a briefing with reporters Thursday, Walz was upbeat in describing the state's circumstances on the one-year anniversary of the first Minnesotan showing COVID symptoms.

"The finish line's there," he said. "Let's finish this thing."

He indicated the Minnesota State Fair is even a distinct possibility this year, after the pandemic canceled it in 2020. The fair, he said, "is within our reach."

"There's every reason for us to be super optimistic," he said of the state's position on the pandemic arc. "Now we're talking weeks, not months or years, until this thing is over."

The governor's remarks were tempered by data showing Minnesota's COVID vaccination pace remains frustratingly flat.

The state health department Thursday reported 28,517 new vaccinations, down from the prior Thursday, with the trend line stuck flat to slightly declining.

Officials hope the arrival of some 45,000 weather-delayed shots on top of the state's regular 100,000-dose allocation will soon jump-start the pace of vaccinations, although it hasn't happened yet and the pressure to move faster is rising.

The governor and other officials indicated that their March timeline for older Minnesotan vaccinations was conservative and expressed hope it would move faster as more supplies — including the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine now under federal review — become available.

"We can't do it fast enough. Every single governor in this country is hearing the same things," Walz said of vaccinations. "It's simply a supply-and-demand issue, folks. There's not enough vaccines still at this point in time."

About 14.1% of Minnesotans age 16 and older had received at least one dose of the vaccine as of the Thursday update, with about 6.9% completely vaccinated.

South-central Minnesota counties continue to trail the statewide vaccination numbers. About 13.7% of residents received one dose, and 6.2% are completely vaccinated.

Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, during a briefing with greater Minnesota press Thursday, suggested the lower vaccination rates in south-central Minnesota so far could be related to demographics. If places have higher concentrations of health care workers or residents aged 65 and older, for instance, she said their allocations could be higher for now.

"We're keeping an eye on geographic equity as well and looking again for increases in supply that are going to allow us to do more targeting into the areas that have been further behind," she said.

Vaccination concerns aside, Minnesota's COVID numbers show the state holding fairly steady in a good way.

Hospitalization rates remain encouraging and down to levels from last fall. There were 265 people with COVID in Minnesota hospitals as of Wednesday. The number needing intensive care fell to 50.

Known active cases stayed below 7,000 for the fourth consecutive day, the first time that's happened since late September.

Follow Brian Arola @BrianArola