Minnesota Gives 2 Million Adults at Least One Vaccine Dose

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota hit the 2 million mark for people who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the state’s Department of Health reported Sunday.

“Getting vaccinated will allow us to get back to the people we love and the things we have missed — and put an end to this pandemic,” said Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement.

However, virus case counts are also on the rise. Health officials reported 1,784 new infections. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by nearly 47%, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers. Minnesota has recorded the nation’s fifth-highest of new cases per population in that time.

Both hospitalizations and deaths from the virus were trending up as well. There were 13 new deaths reported, bringing the toll from the pandemic to 6,957.

Health officials have said that getting people vaccinated will help stem a virus surge like the one seen last year. The Department of Health reported 2,050,888 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, representing 46% of people over 16. About 67% of those people have been fully vaccinated.

Minnesota set a high for vaccines reported in a day, recording 89,214 on Saturday.