State launches vaccine dashboard

A public vaccine data dashboard was launched this week to track the progress of Covid-19 vaccine allocation, distribution and administration across Minnesota.

The dashboard provides what designers call a “visual and user-friendly way to view key vaccination data for our state.”

It includes information on the number of doses promised to the state by the federal government; shipped to Minnesota providers; and administered to Minnesotans. The dashboard will be updated daily.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has promised 541,100 doses to Minnesota. Of those doses, 329,450 have been shipped to providers in Minnesota along with 100,500 doses shipped to pharmacies participating in the program for vaccination in long-term care settings.

There is a limited amount of vaccine available to states from the federal government. Once doses are promised to states, it takes several days before they are actually shipped, so it can be a week or more before they actually arrive and can be administered.

As of Tuesday, when the dashboard went up, more than 140,000 Minnesotans have received at least one dose of the vaccine. More than 7,000 people have completed the vaccination series. The dashboard link can be found on the MDH Covid-19 page at mn.gov/covid19.

The state is aware of reports this week that the federal government has changed its guidance on vaccine distribution to include people 65 and older and those 18-64 with underlying conditions that make them more susceptible to virus complications. The state is waiting for more details and guidelines.

At this point no additional vaccine doses have been made available for Minnesota. Until there are more details about how much vaccine Minnesota will receive and when it will arrive, the state continues to distribute the extremely limited vaccine supply allocated each week.