COVID In Minnesota: 5 Million Total Vaccines Administered, 21 Deaths Reported
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - As Minnesota businesses start to open fully, health officials reported that more than 5 million vaccine doses have been administered in the state, a major milestone in the fight to end the spread of COVID-19.
Roughly 63% of Minnesotans 16 and older have received at least one dose, while 55% have completed the vaccine series. The vaccine data dashboard reports that 88.9% of those 65 and older have received at least one shot.
However health officials are also encouraging kids between the ages of 12 and 15 to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, as the age group was recently deemed eligible to receive the shot.
The Minnesota Department of Health reported an additional 690 COVID-19 cases and 21 deaths Friday, bringing the cumulative case count to 597,731 and death toll to 7,354. Roughly 27,000 tests were processed in the last 24 hours, suggesting a daily positivity rate of 2.5%.
The seven-day average positivity rate has dropped in the last few weeks; after reaching a peak of 7.5% in early April, it has now crossed below the "caution" threshold to 4.8% as of May 12.
Cases per 100,000 residents and hospitalizations per 100,000 residents have also been declining, but community spread - the percentage of cases with no known source of exposure - is higher than ever before at 45.1%.
Latest figures show that 396 Minnesotans are in the hospital with the virus, of which 30% are in the ICU. Since the pandemic began last March, 31,699 Minnesotans have been hospitalized due to their COVID-19 symptoms.
Health officials say that 583,021 of those who have contracted the virus no longer need to self-isolate.