Dec. 8, 2020
The ground across Minnesota is unusually bare for December. Find out more about the upcoming chances for a snow-covered holiday season on Updraft.
Gov. Tim Walz and his administration gave details on COVID-19 vaccine distribution today, including who would be prioritized in receiving the initial dosages. The governor says that there’s enough for 183,400 people in the first rounds of distribution for those in high-priority groups to receive the vaccination.
The vaccines will come from two makers, Pfizer and Moderna, which are seeking emergency use for their products from the federal Food and Drug Administration. The agency is expected to decide on Pfizer’s vaccine on Thursday and Moderna’s on Dec. 17. Walz was later joined by legislative leaders, including House Republican leader Kurt Daudt and GOP Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka. Both have pushed back against Walz’s use of emergency powers in the pandemic and questioned his decision-making. On Tuesday, though, both came out in support of the vaccination proposal.
"This is some place where we have found common ground to move forward,“ said Gazelka, who had and recovered from COVID-19 earlier this year. “The vaccine is really important. We want to encourage people to take it,” He added that he would not be in favor of requiring Minnesotans to take it.
Limited supply of the vaccine led to prioritizing subgroups within health care workers and long-term care residents. Infectious Diseases director Kris Ehresmann said that people will be divided by risk of infection, risk of death, and how much society relies on them for their health. New COVID-19 cases fell to their lowest point in a month, with 3,080 new confirmed cases in the latest data from the Minnesota Department of Health. Another 22 COVID-19 deaths, extending an already difficult December — 434 deaths posted in the first eight days, following more than 1,100 deaths in November.
The new COVID-19 caseload was modest — 3,080 newly confirmed or probable cases — but this reflected very low testing levels, not an improvement in the state’s outbreak.
You can get more of the latest news, in just a few minutes, via the Minnesota Today podcast. — Hannah Yang | MPR News | 
