COVID-19 VACCINATION
Distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine began in the United States in December 2020, and is now widespread amongst the general public in the MSP region and across the country. All children and adults aged 5+ are currently eligible for vaccination in Minnesota, and state officials continue efforts to increase vaccination rates. Additionally, in November, Booster shots were approved for the general population to receive to increase immunity to COVID.
WHAT THE DATA IS TELLING US
As of April 1st, 2.58 million people, or 73.5% of the MSP region’s population, have received at least one dose of the vaccine. This week, the data shows that the total number of people in the region that have received at least one dose, as a percent of population, increased just one tenth of a percentage point from the previous week. The rate of growth in the share of the population that had received at least one dose of vaccine peaked at nearly six percentage points per week in April 2021, and has been growing at a slower pace, only increasing by 0.1 percentage point a week for nearly a year.
Distribution of the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines began in the United States in December 2020, and Johnson and Johnson vaccine distribution began in February 2021, though it was temporarily ‘paused’ in all states for roughly ten days in April. The CDC laid out several phases of vaccine distribution, with the very first phase (1a) only being offered to first responders and high-risk health workers. Minnesota then transitioned to phases 1b and 1c of distribution in late February, serving residents with specific underlying medical conditions, food processing plant workers and other essential frontline workers, and adults aged 50+ in multi-generational housing. In late March of 2021, eligibility was expanded to all adults aged 16+ in Minnesota, and in May, eligibility was further expanded to children aged 12-15. In November 2021 eligibility was further expanded to children aged 5-11. Also in late November, people were approved to receive a third booster shot to increase immunity to COVID, as data showed immunity to COVID waned in people who received the vaccine after at least six months after receiving their completed series.
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This metric tracks the share of the population that has received at least one vaccination dose. For this metric, vaccination data is only available for the 13 Minnesota counties located in the Minneapolis Saint Paul metro region and excludes the 2 Wisconsin counties. Vaccination data is sourced from the Minnesota Department of Health, and regional population data is sourced from the American Community Survey 2019 1-Year Estimates. Data is updated weekly.
WHY THIS MATTERS TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY:
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically disrupted the economy at all scales, fueling an economic recession in the U.S. It is widely assumed that widespread vaccination has brought the virus under control and is also leading to economic recovery. Before the vaccines were developed and approved, the only option available to public health officials was to slow the spread of the virus, and therefore states and counties enacted various series of executive orders and mandates beginning in March of 2020 that limited interaction. State stay-at-home orders led businesses that were able to shift workers to operate remotely, but many businesses deemed non-essential were forced to temporarily close and furlough or layoff employees. While many business functions have been able to adapt and survive, it is expected that the economy as we know it has been altered with the longest standing impact expected to be felt by low-income service workers. More, the rate of progress will vary across sectors and communities, and in some ways, the pandemic has permanently shifted the ways in which we work and do business. The GREATER MSP Partnership is tracking disparities in how recovery is being experienced, as well as how the regional economy is transforming and will look different moving forward.
RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSIVE RECOVERY:
It is well known that people of color have borne a disproportionate burden of the pandemic’s impacts and a longstanding history of wide-ranging health disparities. Significant action has been taken in Minnesota and in many states to address racial equity in vaccine distribution.
The CDC is tracking demographic characteristics of people receiving vaccines for states that are reporting it, and the Minnesota Department of Health publishes vaccination data by race and ethnicity for public consumption on the COVID-19 Vaccine Data Dashboard. Data is provided through a partnership with the Minnesota Electronic Health Record (EHR) Consortium as a way to inform strategies to ensure equitable distribution of vaccine to all Minnesotans, particularly communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 as a result of systemic inequities. Data is currently only available for vaccine recipients who have received care from one of the participating health systems in the last 5-10 years. There are 10 participating health systems involved in the MDH-EHR partnership, including almost all of Minnesota’s largest providers.
As of April 2nd, data shows that Minnesotans who identify as multiracial continue to experience the largest disparities in vaccination rates across all age groups. The share of adults having received at least one dose of vaccine remains highest among Asian/Pacific Islander Minnesotans than every other racial/ethnic group. In latest available data, 88.1% of Asian/Pacific Islander Minnesotans aged 5+ had received at least one dose of vaccine, whereas only 39.7% of multiracial Minnesotans had received a dose of vaccine. The State of Minnesota has advanced several strategies to improve equitable vaccine distribution, including partnerships with Federally Qualified Health Care Centers, which are vaccinating indigenous and communities of color at significantly higher rates than other sites, early expansion of the vaccine to community pharmacies and community vaccination sites, and deployment of mobile vaccination units to hard-to-reach populations.
Source: Minnesota Department of Health
TELLING THE FULL STORY:
Though vaccine eligibility has been expanded to all adults and children over age 12, several factors continue to influence the rate of vaccination in the U.S. and within the MSP region. Many cultural, social, medical, and political factors influence an individual’s decision to get vaccinated, and there is still much to be known about how effective the current vaccines are against new variants of the COVID-19 virus. It will be important to continue to track both infection rates and vaccination rates as the region, state, and country continue to return closer to a state of normalcy.
HOW WE STACK UP:
To understand the relative rate of vaccination, we are comparing the share of state level population that has received at least one vaccine dose on a weekly basis. We are comparing peers at the state-level due to data availability and consistency at this time. The set of peer regions (in this case, peer states) is selected based on demographic and economic characteristics, and are tracked in the Regional Indicators Dashboard, a set of indicators that track MSP’s long-term economic competitiveness.
In the week ending April 1st, the ranking of peer states in terms of the share of the total population that had received at least one dose of vaccine remained consistent with recent weeks’ rankings, even as vaccination progress has increased among states as 5–11-year-olds began receiving the vaccine. Though Minnesota remained among the top three peer states for vaccination rates throughout most of 2021, it is now in the bottom-fourth of the peer set, with 74.7% of the population having received at least one dose. The rate of vaccination ranges from 64.9% in Georgia, the bottom-ranking state, to 97.3% in Massachusetts, the top-ranking state. Massachusetts continues to lead with the highest rate of vaccination of the peer set, holding its longstanding position as the national leader for rate of vaccination. Four other states have more than 80% of the population vaccinated: California, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Washington.
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HOW TO LEARN MORE:
To access vaccination data for the state of Minnesota and learn more about the planning and phasing of vaccine distribution, visit Minnesota Department of Health’s COVID-19 Vaccine Page.
To access vaccination data for the U.S. and states, visit the Center for Disease Control’s COVID Data Tracker.
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