COVID In Minnesota: More Than 54,000 Minnesotans Have Had 3rd Vaccine Shot
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With the FDA having granted emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for some Americans, health officials on Tuesday say that already 54,209 Minnesotans have had a third COVID vaccine shot.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health's daily update, there are an additional 6,203 virus cases and 11 more deaths since Monday's update. The state's total positive cases have risen to 706,158 since the pandemic began, with 8,109 deaths attributed to the virus.
Meanwhile, the latest rolling seven-day average positivity rate has notched down to 6.6%, as reported Tuesday. The positivity rate, which went as far down as 1.1% in the middle of summer, remains in the "caution" status; the line for high risk is drawn at 10%.
Total ICU bed usage among COVID-19 patients is also starting to show signs of scaling back, with 196 listed in that category Tuesday. (The peak number of recorded ICU patients with COVID-19 was at the beginning of Dec. 2020, at nearly 400.) Additionally, there are currently 571 COVID-19 patients being hospitalized in non-ICU beds.
The rate of new COVID hospitalizations per 100,000 residents is at 12.5; the last time it sustained figures that high was at the end of April.
As of Tuesday morning, figures from the Minnesota Department of Health showed that about 73.3% of Minnesotans 16 or older had received at least one dose, and 93.5% of those 65 or older had received at least one dose. In total, the state has administered 6,413,186 doses of vaccine, with about 3.23 million residents having completed their vaccine series.
There are also a reported 40 daily new cases per 100,000 Minnesota residents, which puts the state well above the line considered high risk. The state spent the early part of summer well below the line of caution, which is drawn at only five new cases daily per 100,000 residents.
