Cook County climbs over 50 percent vaccination rate for COVID-19

Local public health officials announced on WTIP this morning that 200 vaccines will be administered this week in Cook County during an event Thursday, March 25, at the community center in Grand Marais.

At this week’s vaccination event, approximately 200 people will receive their first dose of the vaccine. There are no second dose shots available this week in Cook County. This is the result of severe winter weather from February that impacted vaccine distribution across the nation.

Cook County continues to have the highest vaccination rate in Minnesota. It is the only county to have more than 50 percent of the population receive at least the first dose of the vaccine. A total of 2,771 people in Cook County have received the first dose, which equates to 51.5 percent of the population. A total of 2,147 people have received the second dose as well and are fully vaccinated.  

For this week, recently expanded eligibility by state officials will allow for more local residents to have the option to get the vaccine this week. They include people who are over the age of 50 who are living in a multi-generational household and people working in one of the following fields of employment:

Agriculture
Airport Staff
Corrections
Education (childcare, K-12 schools, youth enrichment programs)
Healthcare
First Responder (fire, law enforcement, EMS)
Food Service workers, including grocery, convenience store, food shelf, bakery, bars, restaurant, café, winery, brewery, catering.
Judicial System
Manufacturing
Public Transit
Postal Service Workers

Also eligible this week are people between the ages of 45-64 with at least one underlying health condition, or between the ages of 18-44 with at least two underlying health conditions that put you at higher risk for COVID-19.

If you are eligible, click here to register for this week’s vaccination event in Grand Marais.

Cook County continues to offer a two-dose vaccination series using the Moderna vaccine, and all individuals are automatically registered for their second dose appointment when receiving their first dose.

As WTIP reported last week, healthcare officials said there is more active COVID-19 in Cook County at this time than at any other stage of the pandemic. As of March 22, there are 136 total cases of COVID-19 in Cook County since the onset of the pandemic. At least 18 new cases were reported in the past two weeks. 

Local public health officials continue to remind residents that even though there is a high rate of vaccination locally, the pandemic is not over and the virus continues to spread across Minnesota, including here in the community.