Latest on COVID-19 in MN: State reaches more vaccination milestones over weekend – Minnesota Public Radio News

3 things to know:

More than 1 million state residents have at least one vaccine dose

More than 10 percent of Minnesotans have completed vaccinations

Nearly 64 percent of Minnesota seniors have at least one dose

Minnesota passed more COVID-19 vaccination milestones over the weekend.

On Saturday, the state Health Department reported that more than 1 million residents had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

And on Sunday, it reported that more than 10 percent of Minnesota residents had completed their vaccinations whether two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Nearly 19 percent of Minnesotans have now received at least one dose including nearly 64 percent of state residents 65 and older.

That last figure is a particularly important one, because state officials have said Minnesota will expand vaccination eligibility when 70 percent of seniors get a first dose.

Officials expected to meet that goal by the end of March. But on the current trajectory, it could happen much sooner which would accelerate the timeline for when any Minnesotan can get a shot.

As vaccinations continue, there has been a slight uptick in newly confirmed cases in recent days. Averaged over the past week, Sundays update showed Minnesota is seeing about 786 new cases each day. Thats up from about 753 on Friday.

Sundays update showed a slight decrease in COVID-19 deaths and hospital admissions reported each day, averaged over the past week.

Here are Minnesotas current COVID-19 statistics:

6,550 deaths (4 new)

490,011 positive cases (897 new); 97 percent off isolation

18.8 percent of Minnesotans with at least 1 dose

63.9 percent 65 and older with at least 1 dose

Projections by MPR News data reporter David Montgomery.

The pace of vaccinations fell slightly in Sundays update. Averaged over the past week, Minnesota is now administering just over 39,000 shots a day down from a record high of more than 41,000 a day as of Saturdays report. Thats in part because of an unusually high number of vaccinations reported the previous Sunday, as weather-delayed vaccine doses made their way around the state.

The Health Department on Sunday reported 570,038 people more than 10 percent of the states population have completed their vaccinations. More than 1 million Minnesotans more than 18 percent had received at least one dose.

Minnesota currently ranks 16th among states in doses administered per 100,000 people, according to data collected by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As more Minnesotans are vaccinated against COVID-19, the states pandemic metrics show disease conditions are fairly stable.

There were 7,406 known, active cases as of Sunday, continuing a trend that stayed fairly stable through February and remains down dramatically from late November and early December, when active cases hovered around 50,000.

Four newly reported deaths raised Minnesotas toll to 6,550. Among those whove died, about 62 percent had been living in long-term care or assisted living facilities; most had underlying health problems. Average daily death counts had ticked up in recent days before falling on Sunday.

The state has recorded 490,011 total confirmed or probable cases so far in the pandemic, including 897 reported Sunday. About 97 percent of Minnesotans known to be infected with COVID-19 in the pandemic have recovered to the point where they no longer need to be isolated.

People in their 20s still make up the age bracket with the states largest number of confirmed cases more than 92,000 since the pandemic began, including more than 48,000 among those ages 20 to 24.

The number of high school-age youth confirmed with the disease has also grown, with more than 38,000 total cases among those ages 15 to 19 since the pandemic began.

With kids increasingly returning to school buildings and sports, Minnesota public health officials are urging Minnesota families with children to get tested every two weeks for COVID-19 now until the end of the school year.

Although young people are less likely to feel the worst effects of the disease and end up hospitalized, experts worry youth will spread it unknowingly to older relatives and members of other vulnerable populations.

People can have the coronavirus and spread COVID-19 when they dont have symptoms.

Regionally, most parts of Minnesota are down significantly from the late November and early December spike, as well as a smaller January uptick.

In Minnesota and across the country, COVID-19 has hit communities of color disproportionately hard in both cases and deaths. Thats been especially true for Minnesotans of Hispanic descent for much of the pandemic.

Even as new case counts continue to track well below their late November, early December peaks, the data shows Latino people continue to be hit hard.

Distrust of the government, together with deeply rooted health and economic disparities, have hampered efforts to boost testing among communities of color, officials say, especially among unauthorized immigrants who fear their personal information may be used to deport them.

Walz has acknowledged that distrust by communities of color has been a problem during the pandemic. Officials on Friday offered up some data on vaccinations broken down by race and ethnicity.

Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said the state was committed to doing more to expand vaccine access to people of color, including getting more doses to community pharmacies, partnering with local groups and deploying mobile vaccination clinics.

Data in these graphs are based on the Minnesota Department of Health's cumulative totals released at 11 a.m. daily. You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at theHealth Department website.

Minnesota health officials on Friday warned of a rapidly growing outbreak of the U.K. COVID-19 strain tied to youth sports in Carver County. They are recommending a two-week suspension of youth sports in the county amid the outbreak.

Since late January, the Health Department says there've been at least 68 cases of COVID-19 cases linked to school and club sports in the metro-area county. Among those cases, 24 have been confirmed as the B.1.1.7 U.K. variant.

Epidemiologists have also seen an uptick of the U.K. variant cases in Carver County gyms and fitness centers with many of those linked to the youth sports cases.

Health officials say youth sports in the county should be paused starting Monday. They also recommend weekly testing of athletes and coaches elsewhere in the state, strict masking and no gatherings before or after games.

B.1.1.7. is more transmissible than other coronavirus variants. While researchers don't believe it's more deadly on its own, its ease of spread may lead to more deaths.

Matt Sepic | MPR News

COVID vaccinations take center stage in long-standing program to address health care inequities: For 15 years, an M Health Fairview program has worked to address inequities in health care. That effort is now focused on getting the COVID-19 vaccine to communities that have often not had equal access to health care.

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Latest on COVID-19 in MN: State reaches more vaccination milestones over weekend - Minnesota Public Radio News