Minnesota Senate President Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) issued the following statement in response to Governor Walz’s announcement that 35,000 doses of the COVID vaccine would be sent to 100 additional sites across the state, allocated specifically for seniors. It was also announced the nine pilot sites throughout the state will be decreased to three under the governor’s updated plan.  

“I wrote a letter to Governor Walz on January 13 urging him to consider all available options to get the Covid-19 vaccines rapidly distributed across the state and to ensure accessibility for eligible Minnesotans, so I welcome the change of direction he announced on Monday. The most important thing is getting seniors and our most at risk individuals to the front of the line, and I encourage the governor to work with the legislature and health experts moving forward to make sure we reach that goal.”

Senate Republicans on Monday morning announced their “Seniors First” plan, aiming to persuade the governor to update and expedite vaccination plans to make all seniors the top priority for receiving vaccinations.

As of February 1, there have been over 6,000 COVID-19 deaths in Minnesota. Of those, 90% have been attributed to seniors 65 and older. The state has distributed more than 444,000 vaccines, yet only 25% have been allocated to Minnesotans 65 and older. The “Seniors 1st” plan proposed by Senator Housley would move towards blanketing the entire states with vaccine sites through community pharmacies already equipped to store, schedule, and administer vaccinations.