COVID In MN: Gov. Walz Says 'Roll Up Your Sleeves, MN' Vaccine Campaign Now Focusing On Manufacturing Workers
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Friday that the statewide "Roll Up Your Sleeves, MN" vaccine outreach campaign will be focusing on "critical frontline workforce sectors" in manufacturing.
Last week, the campaign kicked off with food service industry workers and, over the following weeks, other priority frontline sectors will be vaccinated at community vaccination sites.
"Our strong-spirited manufacturing workers are the backbone of our economy and food supply," Walz said. "They have worked so hard during this unprecedented crisis to keep everything from food on our tables to PPE on our shelves, and now we're going to make sure each and every one of them gets easy and convenient access to vaccines. Getting this critical workforce vaccinated will help us end this pandemic and get back to business as usual."
State officials say Minnesota's 8,270 manufacturing companies had to "re-tool" assembly lines and workplace environments during the pandemic, in order to keep the state's economy afloat and provide goods people rely on.
"Minnesota's food and agriculture manufacturers and processors have had an essential role keeping food on our tables during the COVID-19 pandemic," Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said. "While maintaining the critical food supply, many of these employees have worked in a high risk setting since the beginning of the pandemic. We owe it to them to make sure they can be vaccinated as quickly and easily as possible."
To schedule an appointment, manufacturing employees are asked to register in the COVID-19 Vaccine Connector so they can get their spot in line.
