“This is about having the infrastructure in place to be ready when the federal government finally begins to send us more vaccine,” Governor Walz said. “Every shot in the arm is another step toward crushing COVID and ending this pandemic. And we're going to get the vaccine we do have into arms quickly in Minnesota – whether that’s a few thousand doses or many more.”

Updates to Registration Process for Adults 65 Years of Age and Older:

Today the State of Minnesota announced updates to the registration process for the second week of the COVID-19 vaccination pilot program. The updated process accounts for anticipated high demand for appointments online and at the call center and allows for more equitable and orderly access to appointments by eliminating the first come, first served system.

Minnesotans age 65 and older will now have a 24-hour window of time beginning at 5:00 am Tuesday to pre-register for a randomized opportunity to get an appointment. Signing up for the pre-registration list means Minnesotans will have a chance to be randomly selected, so individuals do not have to register right away. It is not a first come, first serve system. 

The state strongly encourages pre-registering online at mn.gov/findmyvaccine. The website will be open for pre-registering from 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 26 until 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 27. If you are unable to register online, you may call 833-431-2053 to sign up. The call center will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 26 for those that are unable to use the website to register. 

Due to high demand for vaccine appointments, the state encourages Minnesotans to make appointments online if at all possible and if the call center line is busy, try calling again later. Everyone who is currently on the waitlist from the first week will be automatically pre-registered to be randomly selected for an appointment.

Minnesotans can only sign up for the pre-registration list once. The registration system will automatically remove duplicate entries and you cannot transfer your appointment to someone else. If you are selected and cannot use your appointment, another Minnesotan on the pre-registration list will be randomly selected for that appointment.

Those who are randomly selected to receive a vaccine this week will be notified on Wednesday, January 27 by text, email, or phone with instructions on how to finalize the appointment. Those who elect to receive a phone call should be certain to answer the phone as, due to time constraints in filling appointments, reservationists will make two contact attempts.

Appointments are required to receive a shot. Minnesotans without an appointment should not visit a community vaccination pilot clinic. No walk-ins will be accepted, and anyone with the intention of walking in for an appointment will be asked to leave and given information on how to sign up for an appointment. Minnesotans who make an appointment should arrive at their assigned pilot clinic no earlier than 15 minutes before their appointment to ensure social distancing.

Only about 8,000 doses of the vaccine will be available to Minnesotans age 65 and over at the pilot community clinics this week. Demand will outpace supply, and Minnesotans are encouraged to remain patient for their shot as we wait for the federal government to provide more vaccine.

Mass Vaccination Pilot Event for Educators, School Staff and Child Care Providers:

The State announced a mass vaccination pilot event for metro area educators, school staff and child care providers at the Xcel Energy Center this week. The state is allocating 15,000 Moderna vaccine doses to be administered Thursday, January 28 through Monday, February 1 for this event. 

To adjust for the opening of the new metro clinic, the two other pilot clinics in the metro area will serve only adults 65 years of age and older this week. In addition to the metro clinic, Greater Minnesota clinics will also continue to serve education and child care workers this week. 

These clinics are not open to walk ups. School districts, charter schools, tribal schools and nonpublic school organizations will work directly with employees to secure an appointment through the state-sponsored pilot clinics. Child care programs are randomly selected and will be notified if vaccines are available. Education and child care workers who have questions should work with their employer.

Metro area educators, school staff and child care providers who received their first dose at the Brooklyn Center clinic will return to that clinic for their second dose. The Andover clinic has been moved to Blaine. Those who received their first dose at the Andover clinic will receive a notification that they will now receive their second dose at the new clinic in Blaine. 

Updates to Pilot Clinic Locations:

The pilot clinic operating in Andover last week is relocating to Blaine this week. The pilot clinics operating this week are located in Blaine, Brooklyn Center, Fergus Falls, Mountain Iron, Thief River Falls, Sartell, North Mankato, Rochester, Marshall and St. Paul. 

This week, pilot clinics in Blaine and Brooklyn Center will serve only adults 65 years of age and older and the new pop-up clinic at Xcel Energy Center will serve only educators, school staff, and child care providers from the Twin Cities metro.

State to Jump-Start Vaccine Rollout

Governor Tim Walz today accelerated plans to make COVID-19 vaccines more broadly available across Minnesota, announcing a host of actions aimed at getting more doses to more Minnesotans as quickly as possible. 

The actions included a new 72-hour goal for vaccine providers to administer 90 percent of their vaccine doses within three days of receiving them, and all doses within one week. While the state continues to face a crippling vaccine supply shortage, the new goals come after data released today by the state showed some vaccinators, including the national chain pharmacies engaged by the Trump Administration, lagging behind other providers in getting vaccine doses into Minnesotans' arms.  

“The federal government simply has to step up with more vaccine. Minnesotans are ready for this pandemic to end but it’ll take far too long at the current rate we’re getting vaccine,” said Governor Walz. “But what gets measured gets done. Our 72-hour and one-week goals will hold all vaccinators accountable to make sure the doses providers do receive get into Minnesotans' arms as quickly as possible. Every shot in the arm is another step toward crushing COVID and ending this pandemic. And we're going to get this done." 

The state initially tightly restricted vaccine administration to the specific groups explicitly eligible under federal guidelines. But, after changing guidance from the federal government, the Minnesota Department of Health loosened those restrictions January 14 to allow providers to offer extra vaccine to broader groups, particularly the over 65 population, and education and child care workers.

“COVID vaccines have extraordinarily complex handling requirements and the process of administering them is difficult. That’s why we wanted nothing to hold providers back from immediately using any and all vaccine they have available,” said Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. “We desperately need the federal government to step up and provide more but we also need providers to use what they have. That’s why we empowered them to do just that.”

The Governor also announced additional actions today to allow the vaccine to be administered more quickly and efficiently to Minnesotans. The actions are designed to accelerate the vaccine rollout while reinforcing the state’s commitment to equitable and safe vaccine distribution. 

“We simply can’t wait any longer, we have to do more,” Governor Walz continued. “Today, I’m taking action and setting targets that will speed access to the limited vaccine we do have. These actions won’t make more vaccine appear out of thin air, but we’re going to get what we do have to Minnesotans as quickly as possible.”

Today, the Governor directed the following actions designed to accelerate the availability of vaccine across the state.

• All providers should get 90 percent of vaccine received administered within 72 hours and the rest within one week. If a provider does not meet the goals, they should anticipate potential changes to their vaccine allocations. The directive to providers is aimed at more efficient vaccination and will allow for flexibility under certain circumstances that reflect the spirit of the directive (for example, if a provider has a mass vaccination event scheduled for the coming weekend).

• Registration for the community vaccination clinics is improving. As announced earlier today, Minnesotans age 65 and older will now have a 24-hour window of time to pre-register for a randomized opportunity to get an appointment at one of the nine community clinics. The new process is geared toward preventing a surge of website and call center traffic at a given moment in time and allowing for more equitable access to appointments.

• Additional models will be considered for large, community-based vaccination sites. Two of the current pilot sites will be dedicated to Minnesotans who are 65 and older, and later this week a mass vaccination event will be held at the Xcel Energy Center for educators and child care providers. The state will allocate 15,000 Moderna vaccine doses to this event as an extension of the education and child care pilot launched last week. Eligible individuals will be directly contacted through their employer to register for an appointment.

Walz Unveils Education Plan

Governor Tim Walz today announced the Due North Education Plan, a sweeping agenda for the future of education in Minnesota. Developed from a robust engagement effort with educators, school leaders, students, and families across the state, the Due North Education Plan is centered on ensuring every child in Minnesota receives a high-quality education, no matter their race or zip code.

“As a former classroom teacher for over 20 years, I’ve seen firsthand how a high-quality education shapes students’ lives for years to come,” said Governor Walz. “The Due North Education Plan guides us toward a future where every child receives a high-quality education, no matter their race or zip code.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated disparities in education across Minnesota, especially along racial and geographic lines. The Due North Education Plan will help students recover from learning loss this year while closing the opportunity gap and transforming our education system for years to come.

The Due North Education Plan is built from the voices and ideas of Minnesotans whom the Walz-Flanagan Administration engaged in their first two years in office, including the Governor’s Education Roundtable, the School Finance Working Group, the creation of the Minnesota Department of Education’s Strategic Plan, and conversations with educators, school leaders, education organizations, students, and families. The Governor’s Education Roundtable and the School Finance Working group pulled together our state’s top leaders in education policy and school finance reform from all perspectives and corners of our state to examine best practices in the field. The ­Minnesota Department of Education’s Strategic Plan was inspired by countless conversations, research, and visits to schools where innovative programs are successfully moving the needle for our students.

“One of the powers of the Governor’s office is to convene Minnesotans, and that is exactly what we’ve been doing for the past two years,” Governor Walz continued. “Our announcement today is the result of countless conversations with educators, school leaders, education organizations, students and families with diverse viewpoints. This plan was built by Minnesotans, for Minnesotans.

“In order for there to be fundamental change in our education system we must also change the way we fund it,” said Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker. “The proposals from the School Finance Working Group that are embedded in the Due North Plan will help ensure that students across Minnesota will receive the same educational opportunities not matter where they live in our state.”

The plan includes actions to support students during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, reform school financing, expand opportunities for students in Greater Minnesota, and build the most qualified and diverse teaching workforce in the nation. The plan would ensure academic standards address the modern needs of the workforce, are inclusive of ethnic studies, and are reflective of students of color and Indigenous students in order to close opportunity gaps and end disparities.

Amos A. Briggs | Government Relations
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