Ines Garcia Sr. doesnt own a computer. And even if he did, he says he wouldnt know how to register online for a COVID-19 vaccine.
So his stepdaughter and daughter-in-law each registered him for the shot in January with Dallas County.
Garcia said after he was invited to schedule a vaccine appointment, his son drove him the next day to get his first dose of the Moderna vaccine at The Potters House church in southern Dallas. They arrived around 7:30 a.m. on March 4, and Garcia got the shot close to three hours later.
Sitting in his sons pickup in the churchs parking lot, Garcia waited for possible side effects. He said he felt a wave of relief and anxiety. He kept thinking of people whod gotten their shots and told him they felt fevers coming on afterward.
Most of them got it and theyre doing all right, said Garcia, 67, of Mesquite. So Im hoping I do all right too.
Three months into vaccinations, Texas, like many states nationwide, has lagged in inoculating residents of color.
Starting Monday, all adult Texans over 16 will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccines making the Lone Star State the largest in the country to expand eligibility to everyone. Currently, only the Pfizer vaccine is authorized for 16 and up. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are approved for those 18 and up.
But without a statewide plan to focus on vulnerable populations outside of age or serious health conditions, many fear that vaccination gaps will widen. And the consequences could be deadly as people of color have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Racial and economic disparities have marked all aspects of the pandemic, from the early testing site locations to the diverging infection and death rates.
And gaps persist for Latinos and Blacks, who trail behind their white counterparts in getting the vaccine, according to a Dallas Morning News analysis of state vaccine data.
The process for getting a vaccine still heavily favors those who have a car and internet access making community outreach crucial in underserved areas, said Rogelio Senz, a demographer at the University of Texas at San Antonio who has studied the pandemics effects on communities of color.
Beyond technology and transportation barriers, other hurdles remain among Texans of color. Concerns about the vaccines persist, including apprehension over side effects since they have only been approved for federal emergency use.
Garcia is one of nearly 6.9 million Texans or roughly 24% of the states population of 29 million who have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, according to state data as of Saturday. Around the same percentage of Dallas Countys 2.6 million residents have also gotten at least the first of the two-dose shots.
With 2.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state, 47,000 Texans have died as of Saturday, according to state data. Nearly 3,500 have been in Dallas County alone.
At 46%, Latinos make up the largest ethnic group of Texans killed by the virus despite accounting for nearly 40% of the states population. As of Thursday, only 23% of vaccines statewide have gone to those residents.
While in the drivers seat next to his father earlier this month, Ines Garcia Jr. said he was still apprehensive about the vaccine. The 48-year-old caught COVID-19 last fall and said he nearly went to the hospital because of it after experiencing symptoms for about a week. Effects linger, he said, including routine aches.
I dont want to get that sickness again, he said. Getting a shot, nothing might happen to me. But ...
He thinks he might end up getting it again, his father said, finishing his sons sentence.
Dallas city and county officials have prioritized vaccines in hard-hit neighborhoods. The city moved its main vaccine site from downtown to The Potters House in southwest Dallas Mountain Creek neighborhood. And UT Southwestern, another hub provider, offers vaccines at Southwest Center Mall in Red Bird. Dallas Countys site is at Fair Park in South Dallas.
All three of those areas are lower-income and majority Black or Latino. And theyre in ZIP codes with some of North Texas lowest vaccination rates, The News analysis found.
The News analyzed the most recent vaccination data from the Texas Department of State Health Services. It shows by ZIP code the number of residents who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose as of March 22.
Dallas ZIP code 75225 which includes parts of Preston Hollow and University Park has the regions highest vaccination rate, The News found, with an estimated 60% of residents having received at least one dose. Its predominantly white and the median income is $161,296.
About a half-hour drive south in Dallas Red Bird community, in 75237, only 11% of residents there have received shots. The areas population is 80% Black and the median household income is $28,000 a year.
This is a tremendous problem, said Dr. Erin Carlson, an associate clinical professor at the University of Texas at Arlingtons College of Nursing and Health Innovation. Ultimately, public health is about everyone.
If any one group or neighborhood or demographic of our community is unvaccinated, then we dont have herd immunity.
Leslie Armijo, who works at a medical nonprofit, said shes been going to churches, grocery store parking lots and other places helping people to sign up for the vaccine. Recently, she and colleagues have targeted outreach in ZIP codes like 75212 where infections have been higher.
She recently volunteered to register people and to thread that mission with other nonprofits, like Hunger Busters, on a chilly morning. The Hunger Busters crew provided food to people who lined up to get vaccine registration information.
Some people say they are scared and want to wait, Armijo said. They are a little wary of the side effects.
But they make up only a small percentage of those Armijo has talked to.
Armijo would like to see vaccinations extend into the evenings for those who work night shifts. Registrations could take place at big workplaces with stable internet, she said.
Enrique Facundo, 51, pulled his white Ford truck into the line. Hed already received his first shot because he has diabetes and was on a priority list. But he knew others who were resisting, he said, shaking his masked head.
Its good to have this focus here on the vaccines, Facundo said.
Tabitha Wheeler, a community activist who lives in South Dallas, said most people she knows are delaying getting the vaccine or are unsure altogether if theyll get inoculated.
Many say they dont know enough about the vaccine options to know if theyre safe or feel there hasnt been enough time to study the long-term effects.
Some possible side effects of the vaccines can range from mild ones like arm soreness, headaches or muscle pain to more severe issues like difficulty breathing, swelling or hives.
Wheeler, who is Black, said some people are still on the fence even after they have had relatives die.
Wheeler recently turned down an offer to get a first dose from Parkland. After hearing about new strains of the virus, she said, she needs more time to gauge their effectiveness, particularly for Black women, to be more comfortable with getting inoculated.
She mentioned community leader Bishop Omar Jahwar, who died March 11 after COVID-19-related complications. She noted theyre around the same age and that the death of the 47-year-old hit close to home.
Youre kind of rolling the dice a little bit either way, said Wheeler, 44. I dont want to get COVID and die, but Im scared about the vaccine. A lot of us are.
Another challenge in the Catholic community has been the debate over research or production of vaccines involving fetal cell lines.
There has been some trepidation about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, said the Rev. Russ Mower, the parish priest at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church in Oak Cliff. But he tells parishioners: If that is a concern and you have a choice, then certainly go with one of the other vaccines.
The Vatican itself stepped in to say it was morally acceptable to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
If a Catholics only choice is the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, they should take that jab in the arm, the priest said.
Do that with a clear conscience that what you are doing is for the benefit of your brothers and sisters in your neighborhood.
Jenny Zacharias, a Peruvian immigrant, said more must be done to reach Latino and Black communities. She was vaccinated recently after the age limits were lowered to 50.
Bring the vaccines to the people, said Zacharias, 51.
That will improve efficiency and raise trust, said Zacharias, who volunteers with Dallas Area Interfaith at Holy Trinity Catholic Church. The group works with many undocumented immigrants, she said.
They dont trust the government. That is another concern. Who do they trust? They trust the church.
Dallas City Council member Jaime Resendez said he was part of an effort with the county and a local nonprofit to bus eligible residents who live in ZIP codes 75217 or 75227, which include Pleasant Grove and Buckner Terrace, to Fair Park for their appointments on March 10 and March 16. About 200 people were taken to the site, he said.
Its been very helpful to folks, but theres still more work to be done, said Resendez, who represents southeast Dallas and Pleasant Grove.
Dallas City Council member Casey Thomas, who represents southwest Dallas, including Red Bird, said he believes more people will be left behind in the weeks following widespread eligibility because of lack of transportation and the online registration process.
Getting more vaccines would go far in helping fill the demand and close disparity gaps, said Thomas, who chairs the citys COVID-19 recovery and assistance committee. But he said its unclear what the plan is to prevent gaps from widening as more people become eligible for shots.
You would have thought, Thomas said, that after having fought this fight for equitable testing for communities of color, and equitable access to PPE for communities of color, that we would be prepared with a written, detailed plan on vaccine distribution for everyone.
He said he hasnt seen one.
PITTSBURGH Thousands of COVID-19 vaccine appointments are sitting unfilled in western Pennsylvania and providers are encouraging people to double check their eligibility.
If you look 45 minutes outside of the city, an hour outside of the city, there are literally thousands of appointments just sitting there. No ones claiming them, Leighann Bacher said.
Bacher uses her Facebook page, Getting Pittsburgh Vaccinated, as a platform to connect people with appointments. She said there are lots of appointments if you look hard enough.
Butler is one. Clarion, Westmoreland, Fayette. Armstrong is one that has a ton right now and theyre scrambling to fill slots, she said.
Jen Salmans drove to Hempfield in Westmoreland County to get her shot. Now her two boys can see their grandparents for the first time in a year.
Its incredible for them. Just makes my heart melt that they can be back together giving them hugs and kisses, she said.
If youre an unpaid caregiver for an elderly adult, you qualify to get a vaccine. If your Body Mass Index is over 30 youre also eligible.
I really encourage people to check. Go on Google, theres a calculator. Enter your height and weight and it turns out a number for you, Bacher said.
She fears if unfilled appointments arent opened up to everyone, people will increasingly head across the border to Ohio or West Virginia to get the shot.
Were underestimating how many people are willing to go there. Its going to be a lot, she said.
While the Pfizer vaccine can be administered to people who are 16 and 17, it is the only vaccine currently given emergency use authorization by the FDA for that age group. The other two vaccines, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, were authorized for those 18 and older.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA21) - RutgersUniversity is one of the first to announce they will require all students to get theCOVID-19 vaccine to returnto in person classesin the fall.
Officials with Purdue University Fort Wayne say they are not requiring students to get the vaccine, but it is something theyve considered.
XeryusJohnson andMadisonHarganare both studying atPurdueUniversityFortWayne.They both sayuniversitiesshould not require students to get the vaccine.
Its your right to take the vaccine or not take the vaccine, Johnson said.I dont thinkuniversitiesor jobs should infringe on that.
Johnson says while he plans to get the vaccine himself, its not something he thinks should be forced upon students.
"Purdue is a major university and we pride ourselves on diversity and inclusion, I think we need to honor those rights of those, Johnson said.
Hargan says she agrees the vaccine should not be required.
"I do know some people who are against it and they want to have the freedom of choice rather than being forced, Hargan said.
Officials with PFW say if changes are made to their COVID-19 guidelines or vaccine requirements, you can find them on their website.
SYDNEYTo reach indigenous clans in northern Australia, vaccinators must navigate monsoon rains that can ground aircraft and waterways infested with crocodiles. Once they reach communities, they face another tough challenge in convincing those groups to accept the shots.
First Nations people like those in East Arnhem Landmore than 600 miles by road from the closest city of Darwin and a bastion of traditional Aboriginal cultureare next in line in Australias vaccination program that began last month and has focused on giving priority to health and other workers on the front lines of keeping Covid-19 out of the country.
In many ways, the vaccination program is a litmus test for nations with large indigenous groups that feel marginalized and distrustful of government policy. Almost 150,000 indigenous Australians lived in remote areas in 2016, according to the most recent government data available. In East Arnhem Land, life expectancy is around 50 years and half of Aboriginal children develop a severe hearing, lung or other health problem by age 4.
What were hearing now is probably 50-75% will say no, said Eddie Mulholland, chief executive of Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corp., an indigenous-controlled primary health service for roughly 8,000 people across East Arnhem Land.
Concerns have increased among indigenous Australians after reported cases of rare blood clotting in people in Europe who had received the Covid-19 shot developed by AstraZeneca PLC and the University of Oxford, though regulators found no link between the clots and the vaccine and recommended its continued use.
[Update: Federal health officials raised questions about the AstraZeneca trial results after they were announced. Read more here.]
The coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford provided strong protection against Covid-19 in a large clinical trial in the United States, completely preventing the worst outcomes from the disease, according to results announced on Monday.
Although no clinical trial is large enough to rule out extremely rare side effects, AstraZeneca reported that its study had turned up no serious safety issues. Government officials and public health experts expressed hope that the results would improve global confidence in the vaccine, which was shaken this month when more than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe, temporarily suspended the shots use over concerns about possible rare side effects.
The trial, involving more than 32,000 participants, was the largest test of its kind for the shot. The AstraZeneca vaccine was 79 percent effective over all in preventing symptomatic infections, higher than observed in previous clinical trials, the company announced in a news release. The trial also showed that the vaccine offered strong protection for older people, who had not been as well represented in earlier studies.
The fresh data may have arrived too late to make much difference in the United States, where the vaccine is not yet authorized and unlikely to become available before May. By then, federal officials predict, there will be enough vaccine doses for all of the nations adults from the three vaccines that have already been authorized.
Even so, the better-than-expected results are a heartening turn for AstraZenecas shot, whose low cost and simple storage requirements have made it a vital piece of the drive to vaccinate the world.
The results could also help ease concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe. In an effort to boost waning public confidence, many European political leaders have gotten the injections in recent days.
The results from the U.S. trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine give strong evidence that the vaccine is both safe and highly effective, Matt Hancock, the British health secretary, said on Monday. Vaccines are our way out of this, so when you get the call, get the jab.
Regulators in Europe initiated a safety review of AstraZenecas vaccine this month after a small number of people who had recently been inoculated developed blood clots and abnormal bleeding. The trial did not turn up any sign of such problems, although some safety issues can be detected only in the real world, once a drug or vaccine has been given to millions of people.
AstraZeneca said on Monday that it would continue to analyze the new data and prepare to apply in the coming weeks for emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The vaccine has already been approved in more than 70 countries, but clearance from American regulators would bolster its global reputation.
Because the United States already has ample supply of vaccines from the three other manufacturers, however, F.D.A. regulators are unlikely to move on the accelerated timeline that they did with other vaccines.
In November, Oxford and AstraZeneca reported that the vaccine was 70 percent effective across studies in Britain and Brazil. But those results were hard to interpret. The findings looked much different in participants who received the first dose of the vaccine at a strength that was not initially planned and then got their second dose many weeks later than originally intended. There were also relatively few older people in those trials. As a result, some public health experts and U.S. health officials viewed those studies as insufficient to tell how well the vaccine worked.
This was a very big, well-powered study that I think confirms now that this vaccine is a good vaccine, said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nations leading infectious-disease expert. He added that it was premature to say what the vaccines role would be in the United States.
March 27, 2021, 10:33 p.m. ET
AstraZeneca has said it will release 30 million doses to the United States as soon as it receives authorization. Tens of millions of those doses are already ready to be shipped or close to it. U.S. officials have agreed to send four million of the doses to Canada and Mexico, in exchange for doses later in the future.
Two-thirds of participants in the clinical trial were given the vaccine, with doses spaced four weeks apart, and the rest received a saline placebo. Volunteers were recruited from Chile and Peru in addition to the United States.
The results announced on Monday were based on 141 Covid-19 cases that had turned up among the volunteers in the clinical trial.
None of the volunteers who got the vaccine developed severe symptoms or had to be hospitalized. Five participants who were given the placebo developed severe Covid-19 by the time the interim data were analyzed, and more cases have since turned up in that group, Menelas Pangalos, an AstraZeneca executive, said at a news conference on Monday.
Participants who received the vaccine in the trial had no increased risk of blood clots or related illnesses. And a specific search turned up no cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis blood clots in the brain that can result in dangerous bleeding that raised some of the most serious concerns in Europe.
Because of the slight battering the AstraZeneca vaccine has taken over the last few weeks and particularly in the last week or two in Europe new data showing it is safe and effective is, if youll excuse the phrase, a good shot in the arm, said Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton in Britain.
The vaccine worked well across ethnicity and age groups, AstraZeneca said. And the vaccine was 80 percent effective in about 6,000 trial volunteers over age 65 findings likely to quell concerns about insufficient clinical trial data on how well the vaccine works in older people.
Even if the vaccine is not used in the United States, receiving emergency authorization from the F.D.A. whose rigorous review process is considered the global gold standard would be an important milestone for AstraZeneca.
The benefits of these results will mainly be for the rest of the world, where confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine has been eroded, said Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Although it is difficult to compare vaccines tested in different clinical trials at different points in the pandemic, the new results put AstraZenecas shot in the company of other leading vaccines.
AstraZenecas vaccine can be stored for six months when refrigerated. Unlike the messenger RNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, it uses an older approach similar to that of the shot from Johnson & Johnson. A delivery vehicle a weakened version of a chimpanzee adenovirus is used to transport coronavirus genes into human cells. That is meant to train the immune system to fight off attacks from the real coronavirus.
A number of key data points that American regulators will need to scrutinize the vaccine were missing from the companys news release.
It was unclear, for example, how up to date the data are. If the analysis was conducted on data from a month or two ago, it is possible that a more current look would present a different picture of the vaccines effectiveness and safety. The company will provide the F.D.A. with a more comprehensive, recent set of data than what AstraZeneca disclosed on Monday.
AstraZenecas relationship with U.S. authorities has been fraught since last year, when senior health officials believed the company was not forthright about the design of its clinical trials, its results and safety issues. That skepticism carried over to last week, when senior officials at a number of federal health agencies had grown even more suspicious.
An analysis by the independent safety monitoring board helping to oversee the U.S. trial was delayed several times because the board had to ask for revised reports from those handling trial data on behalf of the company, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.
It is often the case that such boards can request new or clarifying analyses of data from the trial, an AstraZeneca spokeswoman said. This would enable them to ensure the robustness of their determinations.
Still, the holdup with the data again tested American officials trust in the company. Suspicion intensified so much last week that some government officials and vaccine experts were speculating about whether the company was sitting on its results or working to frame them in a more flattering light.
In fact, the company did not yet have its results until this past weekend, Dr. Pangalos said.
Sharon LaFraniere contributed reporting. Alain Delaqurire contributed research.
NORFOLK, Va (WAVY) More than a thousand at-risk Norfolk residents, ages 65 and older, got their first and for some, the second dose of the Moderna vaccine, Saturday.
This happened at Calvary Revival Church off Poplar Hall Drive.
Nearly 40 JenCare Senior Medical Center volunteers helped get the shots in arms.
Chief Medical Officer of Jencare Medical Center Tidewater, Dr. Lisa Price Stevens, says this clinic helps serve the low-income.
More than 1,000 at-risk Norfolk residents ages 65 and older are expected to get vaccinated at Calvary Revival Church today. Also here are nearly 40 JenCare Senior Medical Center volunteers. This is not a walk up event. pic.twitter.com/TR8FYQ9n0I
She says in the coming weeks they are hoping to get access to the J&J vaccine.
Our plan is to continue to vaccinate folks. We are still sticking with 1a and 1b but as the state opens up we are happy to participate in mass vaccination, said Stevens.
She says this clinic wouldnt have been possible without the partnerships of Calvary Revival church leaders and the Norfolk health department.
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) The race is on for health organizations in the region to get as many people vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible.
The latest push is a series of weekend events to open vaccinations up to more people.
Ballad Health is hosting a Super Saturday vaccine event tomorrow.
Ballad will open its community vaccination centers in Kingsport, Elizabethton, Norton, and Abingdon, as well as a one-day site in Greeneville.
Since Ballad Healths announcement, appointments have since doubled. The health care system is anticipating anywhere between 400 to 500 community members to walk through their doors to get a vaccine.
Kingsport is just one of five locations Ballad Health has planned to issue COVID-19 vaccines. The health care system is hoping to meet the needs of community members who are unable to attend vaccine events during the week.
Ballad Health Chief Infection Prevention Officer Jamie Swift said, This is a walk-in clinic. Weve got extra staff on hand, theyre going to help us to crowd control, extra parking. All of our facilities are located in the area that theres plenty of parking. We may be close to a hospital but not inside of a hospital, so youre not having to deal with that traffic.
Appointments are not required and walk-ins are welcome, however, Ballad Health will only have a limited supply of Pfizer vaccines at each site. Here are the number of vaccines available at each site:
What we dont want to happen is someone to stay in line and then be turned away. Well let you know if weve reached our capacity, Swift said. If we have, were still not going to turn you away with nothing. Well go ahead and get you scheduled for an appointment one day next week.
Swift says those who are unable to come in the 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. time slot are asked to call the Nurse Connect line at 833-8-BALLAD, in order to schedule an appointment at their vaccine clinics next week.
Were anxious and hope that we give out every appointment slot and give out every dose of vaccine. Im hoping the community responds and this is truly a Super Saturday to move over 1,000 doses of vaccines if we can, Swift said.
To get the vaccine Saturday, go to these locations:
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3 things to know
State set to open vaccine eligibility for all adults; supplies expected to jump in April
28 percent with at least one vaccine dose currently; 16.8 percent completely vaccinated
Active cases trending at levels not seen since late January
State public health officials have been going heavy on the racing metaphors recently. Yes, as new COVID-19 cases continue to climb, it does feel like a race to get enough Minnesotans vaccinated quickly to dodge another surge.
There was encouraging news on Saturday, as state health officials reported 77,715 additional vaccine doses administered in Minnesota the highest single-day total yet.
That boosted the daily average over the past week to more than 42,500 vaccinations the highest thats been in nearly two weeks, and a welcome change from days of relatively flat vaccination numbers.
But the seven-day rolling average of new COVID cases reported each day also went up, to about 1,374 the highest that number has been since Jan. 18. The number of active cases in Minnesota also is the highest it's been in more than two months.
Here are Minnesotas current COVID-19 statistics:
6,825 deaths (4 new)
513,833 positive cases; 96 percent off isolation
28 percent of Minnesotans with at least one vaccine dose
80.3 percent of Minnesotans 65 and older with at least one vaccine dose
The increasing pace of COVID cases shows the rising urgency now to widen the vaccine eligibility pool.
Officials are increasingly anxious about caseloads tied to the U.K. COVID-19 variant and to youth sports. Theyve confirmed more than 500 cases of the U.K. strain in recent weeks and believe as many half the states new cases may be tied to that variant.
Heading into the weekend, there was no doubt the vaccination pace could use a bump.
The seven-day trend had been stuck at around 40,000 shots daily, roughly what its been the past few weeks, before Saturdays bump.
As of Saturdays update, more than 936,000 people about 16.8 percent of the states population have completed their vaccinations while more than 1.5 million 28 percent have received at least one dose, including more than 80 percent of people age 65 and older.
For those whove received a complete vaccination, the results look good. Of the hundreds of thousands of people completely vaccinated, the state said earlier this week that its identified only 89 whove subsequently tested positive for COVID-19.
Projections by MPR News data reporter David Montgomery.
Health Department leaders expect a major expansion of vaccine doses the first week in April enough to give 300,000 Minnesotans their first shot and an additional 200,000 to provide people with a second shot.
That, together with the expanded eligibility, should go a long way to easing the concerns of a new wave, although officials noted the state wont immediately have all the doses it needs to immediately vaccinate everyone who wants a shot.
We have not achieved that vaccine nirvana but we know its coming, Kris Ehresmann, the states infectious disease director, told reporters Thursday.
After a relatively stable stretch following a late fall surge, warning lights are flashing around Minnesotas COVID-19 disease data.
The number of known, active is cases is rising again. Saturday showed 12,894 active cases marking nine consecutive days with active counts above 10,000, a stretch not seen since late January.
While still low compared to late November and early December, the increase is notable given the worries over the rise of the U.K. COVID-19 strain, which state health officials suspect is driving the current upswing.
Hospitalizations are low compared to the late-fall surge, but those counts are creeping up as well. Earlier this week Health Department data showed 357 people with COVID-19 in Minnesota hospitals; 87 needed intensive care.
Four deaths reported on Saturday raised Minnesotas collective toll to 6,825. Among those whove died, about 63 percent had been living in long-term care or assisted living facilities; most had underlying health problems.
The state has recorded 513,833 total confirmed or probable cases so far in the pandemic, including 1,744 posted Saturday. About 97 percent of Minnesotans known to be infected with COVID-19 in the pandemic have recovered to the point where they no longer need to be isolated.
Regionally, all parts of Minnesota are in better shape than they were in late November and early December. Some areas are seeing upticks in cases.
Public health leaders continue to keep watch on clusters in the southwest Twin Cities metro specifically Carver and Scott counties as well as the Mankato area and the eastern Iron Range, centered around the town of Aurora.
Theres also an outbreak now in Ely, northeast of Aurora. St. Louis County public officials say in the past week there have been 33 confirmed cases in Ely. That's about 15 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the entire county. Some of the cases are travel related. Others have been linked to social gatherings and youth sports activities.
Ely school officials report that about two-thirds of the cases in the city have been found in the schools, mostly in the high school. As a result, students are returning to distance learning for about two weeks in an effort to stop the spread.
The state is recommending young people across the state be tested every two weeks for COVID-19, with student athletes tested weekly.
People in their 20s still make up the age bracket with the states largest number of confirmed cases more than 96,000 since the pandemic began, including more than 50,000 among those ages 20 to 24.
The number of high school-age youth confirmed with the disease has also grown, with more than 40,000 total cases among those ages 15 to 19 since the pandemic began.
With kids increasingly returning to school buildings and sports, Minnesota public health officials are urging Minnesota families with children to get tested every two weeks for COVID-19 now until the end of the school year.
Although young people are less likely to feel the worst effects of the disease and end up hospitalized, experts worry youth will spread it unknowingly to older relatives and members of other vulnerable populations. Those with the coronavirus can spread it when they dont have symptoms.
In Minnesota and across the country, COVID-19 has hit communities of color disproportionately hard in both cases and deaths. Thats been especially true for Minnesotans of Hispanic descent for much of the pandemic.
Even as new case counts continue to track well below their late November, early December peaks, the data shows Latino people continue to be hit hard.
Distrust of the government, together with deeply rooted health and economic disparities, have hampered efforts to boost testing among communities of color, officials say, especially among unauthorized immigrants who fear their personal information may be used to deport them.
Walz has acknowledged that distrust by communities of color has been a problem during the pandemic. Officials have offered up some data on vaccinations broken down by race and ethnicity. The state is updating the data weekly.
Jan Malcolm, the state health commissioner, has said the state is committed to doing more to expand vaccine access to people of color, including getting more doses to community pharmacies, partnering with local groups and deploying mobile vaccination clinics.
Data in these graphs are based on the Minnesota Department of Health's cumulative totals released at 11 a.m. daily. You can find more detailed statistics on COVID-19 at theHealth Department website.
A COVID-19 quarantine is forcing one team to miss the Minnesota High School Girls Hockey tournament.
The Centennial High School girls hockey team won't participate in this week's girl's hockey tournament because of a COVID-19 quarantine, according to the Minnesota State High School League.
The team reported it had a positive test.
Centennial, the section 5AA champion, was supposed to play Edina on Saturday. The league said it looked at options for a replacement team but could not make a plan work. Edina will advance to the next round of the tournament as a result.
Peter Cox | MPR News
Minnesota to throw open COVID-19 vaccine eligibility: Beginning next week, Minnesotans 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. But eligibility, state leaders say, wont guarantee an immediate shot, as officials work to inoculate the most vulnerable first.
Latina entrepreneurs find a space online to thrive in pandemic: Facebook Live boutique events provide needed income for entrepreneurs and create a virtual space for community members to come together in an isolated world. One Minnesota entrepreneur is among those finding success.
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