On Tuesday, Minnesota leaders rolled out the news that coronavirus vaccines are headed our way.
Here’s the plan, explained in six points:
THE VACCINES ARE COMING
Enough doses for 183,400 people should start arriving next week. First doses could be administered before Christmas.
That’s huge. But, there are 5.6 million people in Minnesota, and nothing like this has ever been done before on this scale in this timeline.
HERE’S WHO GETS THEM
In general, the first people to get vaccinated will be health care workers and nursing home residents. They’re known as “Phase 1.” But there are 500,000 or so of them.
THERE AREN’T ENOUGH RIGHT NOW
There are priority groups and sub-priority groups — and sub-priority groups within these.
This first batch of 183,400 will go to medical workers and nursing home residents most at risk of catching COVID-19.
They’re the “first priority group” of “Phase 1A.” We won’t go through all the phases right now, but everyone should understand that there’s a line, that it will move slowly, and most of us are not at the front. Much of the prioritization has been done at the federal level, and states have limited wiggle room.
See below for the details of the three priority groups within Phase 1A.
WE DON’T KNOW WHEN THERE WILL BE ENOUGH
The distribution of vaccines is being run by the federal government. Beyond this first batch, it doesn’t appear that anyone knows for sure when the next batches will be coming and how many there will be, according to state and federal officials.
It’s complicated because there are many vaccines in various stages. Two — made by Pfizer and Moderna — are ready and awaiting federal approval in days. But others, including a single-dose version by Johnson and Johnson, aren’t expected to be approved until January. The good news is that as more types of vaccines come online, the flow will increase.
The general timeline that a large portion Americans might be vaccinated by May still seems plausible — but hardly guaranteed.
REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS SUPPORT THE PLAN
Gov. Tim Walz and leaders of both parties in the Minnesota House and Senate appeared together Tuesday in a rare show of bipartisan agreement: They support the vaccines and the current plan.
That’s important for public confidence in the vaccine because Republicans, who control the state Senate, have been critical of restrictions that Walz, a Democrat, has put in place throughout the pandemic. The dynamics have reflected the national political polarization over the pandemic, with many Republicans failing to heed or wholeheartedly endorse public health measures agreed to by scientists worldwide.
However, despite voicing support, state Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, on Tuesday refused to commit to getting himself vaccinated. House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, did commit to getting vaccinated, as did all the Democrats and health and medical officials present.
FOR NOW, NOTHING CHANGES (Sorry.)
Now for the bad news: Nothing changes right now — or anytime soon.
The virus is still raging in Minnesota and across the country, and this first batch of vaccines only amounts to about 3 percent of the state’s population. We’re nowhere near herd immunity.
Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federal agency, suggested last week that the next few months could see more than 160,000 more Americans die.
Additionally, researchers don’t know how well any of the vaccines will actually prevent people from spreading the virus. That 95 percent number you hear about, that’s how effective it is at protecting people from falling ill, not from potentially catching and spreading it.
In other words, officials said, mask up and stay away from other people as much as possible.
HERE ARE THE PHASE 1A DETAILS
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December 09, 2020 at 07:38AM
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The vaccines are coming. Here’s the plan, in 6 takeaways. - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
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