Vaccination clinics open and ready

Carlton County Public Health and Human Services is scheduling appointments for upcoming Covid-19 vaccination clinics, including a first-dose clinic at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 615 12th St. in Cloquet, 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, May 6.

Please call 218-499-6310, if you are eligible, to schedule an appointment. Pre-registration is required. A second dose clinic will be held June 3.

Carlton County is offering clinics in several formats, including walk-thru and drive-thru options, at various days and times throughout the week. To view upcoming clinics and registration links for Covid-19 vaccine clinics through Carlton County Public Health and Human Services, please visit the Carlton County Covid-19 Hub (https://bit.ly/carltoncountyhub). Currently, Carlton County Public Health and Human Services is providing vaccines for age 18 and over. If you do not have access to the internet or have questions about registration, please call 218-499-6310 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Carlton County is a registered vaccinator, and other options can be found using the Vaccine Finder: https://mn.gov/covid19/vaccine/find-vaccine/locations/index.jsp.

Interested teens aged 16-17 are encouraged to reach out to their healthcare provider for vaccine availability. Currently only the Pfizer vaccine is approved for that age group.

Providers offering the Pfizer vaccine include Thrifty White Pharmacy in Cloquet and Moose Lake, Essentia Health in Moose Lake and Cloquet Memorial Hospital in Cloquet. Call 218-879-4641 or go online to https://cloquethospital.com/covid-vaccine to register for a vaccination.

A new CDC assessment that finds fully vaccinated adults 65 years and older were 94 percent less likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 than people of the same age who were not vaccinated. People 65 and older who were partially vaccinated were 64 percent less likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 than people who were not vaccinated. People were considered partially vaccinated two weeks after their first dose of mRNA vaccine and fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose.