MN Health Officials Look to Ramp Up Vaccination Efforts

Minnesota health officials are aiming to ramp up vaccination efforts and the pace of administering doses to health care workers and long-term care residents and staff.

Health officials say the state currently ranks 16th among all states by doses administered per 100,000 people. Also, the state has received and distributed enough doses of the vaccine to providers to administer first shots to top-priority Minnesota health care workers.

Officials say 85,200 of the state’s allocated Moderna doses have gone to pharmacies involved in the federal internship program to vaccinate residents and staff of skilled nursing facilities. The three pharmacy chains – Walgreens, CVS Health, and Thrifty White – have partnered with 285 of the state’s 369 skilled nursing facilities and expect to finish administering first shots in three to four weeks.