Governor Walz's 'Roll Up Your Sleeves, MN' Vaccine Outreach Campaign Focuses on Manufacturing Workers

[ST. PAUL, MN] – Today, as a part of the broader statewide ‘Roll Up Your Sleeves, MN’ campaign, Governor Tim Walz is highlighting the state’s outreach efforts focused on connecting manufacturing workers with the resources they need to get vaccinated. The ‘Roll Up Your Sleeves, MN’ campaign kicked off last week with food service industry employees and in the coming weeks, workers in other priority frontline sectors will be vaccinated at community vaccination sites.

“Our strong-spirited manufacturing workers are the backbone of our economy and food supply,” said Governor Walz. “They have worked so hard during this unprecedented crisis to keep everything from food on our tables to PPE on our shelves, and now we’re going to make sure each and every one of them gets easy and convenient access to vaccines. Getting this critical workforce vaccinated will help us end this pandemic and get back to business as usual.”

“I am amazed by the resilience and fortitude of Minnesota’s manufacturers and processors over this past year,” said Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. “They work tirelessly to make sure we have the food and goods needed to keep our state and nation running, and now we’re working hard to make sure all those workers have the safe and easy access to vaccines that they deserve.”

To keep Minnesota’s economy afloat over the past year and produce the goods Minnesotans and Americans rely on — including PPE — Minnesota’s 8,270 manufacturing companies re-tooled assembly lines and work environments to create safer workplaces for their 324,000 collective employees.

To get their “spot” in line, manufacturing employees are being asked to register in the COVID-19 Vaccine Connector so that they can be prioritized for vaccines at state sites.

“Minnesota’s food and agriculture manufacturers and processors have had an essential role keeping food on our tables during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen. “While maintaining the critical food supply, many of these employees have worked in a high risk setting since the beginning of the pandemic. We owe it to them to make sure they can be vaccinated as quickly and easily as possible.”

To raise awareness about the importance of vaccinating this critical workforce, Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen also traveled to Post Consumer Brands in Northfield on Thursday to attend a Rice County Public Health vaccination pop-up at the food manufacturer’s facility. Today, Commissioner Grove will host a roundtable discussion with several manufacturing companies at Anderson Windows in Cottage Grove, MN to discuss vaccination efforts.

"More than 300,000 Minnesotans work in manufacturing, and we want to help as many of them get vaccinated as possible,” said Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove. "As our economy begins to recover, manufacturing will play a critical role in our growth. Getting shots in the arms of this workforce is a critical step in that process.”

As Minnesota waits for additional supply of vaccine, it is critical that Minnesotans work to protect the progress the state has made by doing their part to slow the spread through testing, social distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing.

How Minnesotans Can Get Their Shot:

• Register for the Vaccine Connector to get invited to make an appointment at one of the state’s COVID-19 Community Vaccination Program locations: https://mn.gov/vaccineconnector.

• Use the state’s Vaccine Finder Map to find the closest vaccine provider: https://mn.gov/covid19/vaccine/find-vaccine/locations/index.jsp.

• Contact their primary health care provider or a local pharmacy.

• Employers may also reach out with information about vaccination opportunities.

How Minnesotans Can Get a COVID-19 Test at No Cost:

• Walk in or schedule an appointment for a test at one of the state’s community testing sites across Minnesota: https://mn.gov/covid19/get-tested/testing-locations/community-testing.jsp.

• Order a test through the state’s at-home COVID-19 testing program: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/testsites/athome.html.