Minnesota announces COVID-19 vaccines fully distributed for first priority group of hospital health care workers

The Minnesota Department of Health today announced that vaccine doses needed to provide first shots to hospital health care personnel in the “phase 1a – first priority” group have been allocated and distributed to providers for administration.

As of today, 297,350 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been allocated to Minnesota by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Of those allocated doses, over 150,000 doses have been sent to hospital settings, which is a sufficient amount of vaccine to provide a first dose to people in the initial priority group of hospital workers. Hospitals now must work through the logistics of administering the vaccine to health care personnel.

“Enough vaccine has now been allocated by the state and delivered to providers to complete the first shots for all first priority, phase 1a health care workers. Hospitals and other vaccinators now are taking the necessary steps to administer vaccine to health care personnel,” Commissioner Malcolm said. “This is not an easy task as much of the vaccination is happening within hospitals that are already stretched very thin right now. They are working through the process and we are making progress.”

The state’s role in vaccine distribution is oversight and facilitation. The state helps the federal government know where in Minnesota to send vaccine and helps make sure vaccine providers in Minnesota – mostly private health care providers and pharmacies at this stage – administer it safely.

Health care personnel included in the “phase 1a – first priority” group include hospital staff working with patients who may have COVID-19, staff and residents in skilled nursing facilities and nursing homes, emergency medical services personnel who provide direct patient care, COVID-19 testers, and COVID-19 vaccinators. Recommendations for all of phase 1a vaccination are based on broader federal recommendations and were further sub prioritized by the state into three additional priority groups.

“Until there is enough vaccine for everyone, we are focused on immunizing for impact. We will start with the people who are most likely to get COVID-19 and those most at risk of serious complications,” said Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann.

More information about vaccine doses delivered and administered can be found on MDH’s COVID-19 Vaccine Data page. For more information about the phases of the vaccine distribution, visit MDH’s Phases of COVID-19 Vaccination page.

-MDH-