Cook County residents 70 and older can be vaccinated for COVID-19 this week

UPDATE: As of 8 a.m. on Feb. 2, there were more than 100 slots remaining for Thursday’s COVID-19 vaccination event at the community center in Grand Marais.

To ensure that all doses are administered, the event is now open to residents age 68 and older.
When Thursday’s event is full, a waitlist will be opened and those on the waitlist will be contacted when an appointment is available.

Feb 3: registration for this event is full.

Feb 4: Vaccine event at Cook County Community Center for residents age 68 and older.

Officials from the Cook County Public Health Department announced today that local residents who are age 70 or older will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine beginning this week.

The vaccination events at the Cook County Community Center in Grand Marais will take place Wednesday, Feb. 3 and Thursday, Feb. 4. The events start at 8 a.m. and will go until 4:45 p.m. Pre-registration is required.

Click here to register online for the event.

Assistance is available for those who do not have internet access or need additional help with registration. Call (218) 387-3668 to register or ask questions by phone.

Cook County Public Health Supervisor Grace Grinager asked people to avoid calling or emailing about being vaccinated early.

Last week saw a surge of vaccines administered to local residents, including the first public vaccination event at the community center on Jan. 28 where approximately 200 people received the first dose of the two-phase vaccine. At the end of January in Cook County, a total of 1,118 people have received the first dose of the vaccine, a figure that equates to 21.1 percent of the population. At least 192 people have completed the series among local residents.

Cook County now finds itself in the unique position of having one of the highest vaccination rates anywhere in Minnesota and by far the lowest overall case count for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic.

WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs spoke with Grinager during a live interview Feb. 1 about the upcoming vaccination events and the statistics that continue to shine the spotlight on the local response to the ongoing pandemic. Listen to the audio below to hear the full interview.