On Thursday, Senate Republicans applauded Governor Walz’s decision to allow hospitals and vaccine providers to vaccinate individuals aged 65 and older. Senators have been pressuring Governor Walz to speed up vaccination processes by working with local partners and considering all options. Minnesota’s COVID-19 vaccination roll-out has been slower than the national average and much slower than our neighboring states.
Minnesota has often thought of itself as a state that excels in health care areas, but when it has come to the distribution of the COVID vaccine, our state has lagged behind our neighbors, like Iowa, North Dakota, and now Wisconsin. While I appreciate the Walz’s administrations move to expand vaccinations out to Minnesotans 65 years and older, the Governor must work with us to distribute the vaccine quicker. An accelerated distribution can be the difference between life and death for people and businesses. It is critical that we get this right.
The State Vaccine Advisory group met earlier this week to discuss Governor Walz’s current vaccination plan. Previously, seniors were to be phased into vaccination efforts over three total phases. The percentage of distributed vaccines that have been administered in Minnesota is at 36%, while neighboring states North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa are at 74%, 58%, and 47%, respectively. According to the Federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), COVID-19 mortality rates are also highest among older adults. Compared with persons aged 35-54 years, those aged 65-74 years have eight times higher risk, and those aged 75 years and older have over a thirty times higher risk for COVID-19 deaths.
A number of Minnesota residents who testified in Senate committees this week cited concerns over the lack of communication to the public, nonexistent transparency regarding decisions being made about vaccination phases, the withholding of doses, and seniors not receiving a priority timeline.
The CDC recently advised states they could vaccinate individuals 65 years and older. Other states had begun doing this much earlier than Minnesota.