State Health Officials Ask for Patience With Vaccine Rollout

ST. PAUL -- State health officials are asking Minnesotans to be patient as the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are distributed.

The Minnesota Department of Health says they received roughly 46,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, with nearly 3,000 health care workers vaccinated.

Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm says they know people are anxious to get the vaccine, but we need to be patient with the rollout.

We wish that the vaccine rollout would be a faster process. It's enormously complex and the supply is going to take some time to build. It's tough to be patient when we've already gone through so much, but if we continue to support each other we will get to the end faster.

However, some hospitals have address concerns they've received less of the vaccine that what was expected.

MDH's Director of Infectious Diseases Kris Ehresmann says they understand the concerns, but there is a plan for how and where the vaccines are distributed.

It's important to recognized that the need is everywhere and the picture of what health care looks like may be different, but there is a need. There is no place we are sending vaccine where it isn't needed.

Ehresmann says they anticipate vaccinating everyone in the first priority groups by the end of January, but that is contingent on vaccine supply.

Malcolm says they plan to meet with health care workers across the state in the coming weeks to see how vaccinations have gone and assess their experience.

Governor Tim Walz says the Moderna vaccine should be arriving in the state within the next 24 hours. Minnesota is expected to get about 94,000 Moderna vaccines, which will go directly to providers vaccinating residents and workers in long-term care facilities.