Post-holiday COVID concerns emerge in Minnesota

State confronts prolonged delta variant COVID-19 wave even as it looks ahead to omicron variant risk

Dec 08, 20210

Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune count

Naomi Everman, 8, of Falcon Heights received a COVID-19 vaccine shot Thursday at Mall of America in Bloomington.

Indicators of COVID-19 severity have increased after declining over Thanksgiving in Minnesota, which on Tuesday reported 45 more COVID-19 deaths, including a Hennepin County teenager.

The COVID-19 death is the seventh since the start of the pandemic to involve someone 19 or younger in Minnesota and the fourth to involve a teenager in the latest pandemic wave this fall. While 86% of Minnesota's 9,699 COVID-19 deaths involved seniors, only 73% of the deaths since July 1 have been among people 65 and older.

Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday urged more COVID-19 vaccinations while celebrating the fact that 25% of children 5 to 11 have received at least first doses since they became eligible one month ago. Minnesota ranks sixth among states in vaccination progress with this age group and 22nd overall with a first-dose rate of 74.3% among people 5 and older.

https://www.startribune.com/post-holiday-covid-concerns-emerge-in-minnesota/600124672/