COVID-19 vaccines available in June for Cook County residents 12 and older

There are multiple opportunities for COVID-19 vaccination throughout Cook County in June.

Included in the events are, for the first time in Cook County, vaccines available for local residents 12 and older. All of these events for people 12 and older will take place at North Shore Health, the healthcare facility in Grand Marais. The first of these events is Thursday, June 3. It features the Pfizer vaccine. Similar events take place June 10 and 17 at North Shore Health.

Any individuals under the age of 18 will need a parent or guardian present to give consent during the vaccination appointment.

“I highly encourage all community members 12-plus, who are eligible for vaccination, to sign up for an appointment as we move into the summer months,” said Cook County Public Health Supervisor Grace Grinager. “Vaccination protects you from becoming very sick with COVID-19 and then passing the virus on to others in the community. It prevents you from needing to quarantine if you are exposed to someone who is infectious for COVID-19. It is the single strongest tool we have to end this pandemic and begin to safely do many of the things we stopped doing over this past year.”

Grand Portage Health Services will be coordinating rides to North Shore Health for community members who wish to access these vaccination events and are traveling from Grand Portage.

Please call Grand Portage Health Services at 218-475-2235 to access this service. If people in other parts of the county are struggling with transportation to access these vaccination events, please call Cook County Public Health at 218-387-3605.
Cook County Public Health will continue to inform the community of additional vaccination opportunities via media release and social media as events are organized into the future. Starting in late June, vaccination events will begin to transition to Sawtooth Mountain Clinic.

WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs checked in with North Shore Health Hospital Administrator Kimber Wraalstad to learn more about the vaccination events and more local healthcare news. The audio to their conversation is shared below.