Minnesota campaign aims to address vaccine hesitancy

ST. PAUL — Minnesota’s “all-of-the-above” approach to administering coronavirus vaccines appears to be working.

The state regularly ranks in the top 10 of states for the percent of vaccines administered and the percent of adults who’ve gotten vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of Friday, April 9, Minnesota was fourth in the nation for vaccine distribution, just behind New Hampshire, Wisconsin and North Dakota. The state was 10th in the nation for adults with at least one dose of vaccine, according to the CDC.

But questions remain about whether Minnesota can reach the 80 percent vaccination threshold needed for herd immunity. To cross that milestone, health officials need to address a wide variety of vaccine hesitancy in different communities across the state.

Minnesota has administered more than 3 million doses of the three vaccines with emergency authorization and 44 percent of the eligible population, residents 16 and older, have gotten at least one dose.

State leaders credit a broad variety of vaccine options — doctors offices, pharmacies, semi-permanent clinics and pop-up events — the so called “all-of-the-above” approach, for this success. Health officials want anyone and everyone to get vaccinated to help control the pandemic.

“Every day and every person who takes the shot, we are closer to the other side of this,” Gov. Tim Walz said last week at an event encouraging food-service workers to get vaccinated. “This is the path forward.”

Yet, Minnesota health officials still face a somewhat rocky road.

There is some intrenched vaccine hesitancy among some political and demographic groups. And several industries have lower-than-expected vaccination rates.

“We do anticipate, at some point in time, there will be more vaccine available than people in line waiting to get the shots,” said Jan Malcolm, state health commissioner. “I don’t think we are close to that yet. In general, we still have a lot of people eager to get the vaccine.”

Convincing residents who are hesitant to get the shot is the aim of a widespread “Roll Up Your Sleeves, MN” campaign. It includes more than 70 people working with roughly 70 community organizations around the state.

To date, the state has spent $3 million on a vaccine media campaign and $10 million working with community coordinators. The latest federal stimulus bill includes more than $50 million for Minnesota for vaccine distribution.

All Minnesotans age 16 and older became eligible to be vaccinated March 30, but much of the state’s effort continues to focus on encouraging those most at risk to get their shot.

After health care workers and seniors, who were the top priority, first responders, frontline workers and residents of communities hardest hit by the virus were the key focus.

Workers in meat-processing facilities represented one of the state’s first big challenges, said Edwin Torres, a vaccine outreach director for the state Department of Health. Pork and chicken processing plants were the epicenter of several severe outbreaks in Minnesota during the pandemic.

While many were willing to get the shot, others had a range of questions and concerns, from vaccine safety to what their employer may learn about their immigration status.

“One of the biggest barriers is just understanding the process of getting a vaccine,” Torres said, noting there were lots of questions about the process and the information workers need to provide.

COVID-19 vaccines are free and Minnesotans don’t need insurance or to show ID to get one.

“We are actively working each day to break down barriers of entry,” Torres said.

Health officials and community activists used calls, text messages and even door-to-door campaigns in Marshall and Worthington to help workers understand how and why they should be vaccinated. Those efforts will help inform efforts to reach more frontline workers at high risk of catching the coronavirus.

“We are going to vaccinate all Minnesotans and that really means all Minnesotans,” Torres said.

Last week, Walz and other state officials put a renewed focus on vaccinating people in communities hardest hit by the pandemic. Blacks, American Indians and other residents of color have contracted the coronavirus at higher rates and often have more severe cases than their white neighbors.

They’re at higher risk because many Minnesotans of color work in jobs that are in routine contact with the public, such as food service, hospitality and other industries. Many of those jobs were also impacted by lockdowns and other measures used to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

“It is a critical workforce population we need to get vaccinated,” Steve Grove, commissioner of the state Department of Employment and Economic Development, said at a Mall of America event urging food workers to get inoculated.

Personal chef Demarco Cavil, of Minneapolis, spoke at the event because he said he recognized there was concern in many communities of color about the vaccine.

“There’s a lot of hesitancy in my community, a lot of people are discouraged about getting the vaccine,” Cavil said. “I want to be a model to my community, as an African-American chef, to encourage people to come get the shot. Let’s get back to normal and let’s get back to life.”

One of the more concerning sectors facing vaccine hesitancy is the long-term care industry. Nursing homes and assisted-living facilities have reported high vaccination rates among residents, but the rate is only around 50 percent among workers.

Long-term care facilities have accounted for more than 60 percent of Minnesota’s COVID-19 deaths and nearly 90 percent of all the state’s fatalities have been seniors. Outbreaks in long-term care facilities, when one or more residents or staff members test positive, are back on the rise after a substantial decline.

Patti Cullen, president and CEO of Care Providers of Minnesota, says there’s a wide range of reasons long-term care workers haven’t been vaccinated. Some are taking a wait-and-see approach, but about 25 percent say they’ll never get the shot.

“We are never going to get to 100 percent,” Cullen said, adding that the industry was hoping for a vaccine uptake rate of about 75 percent, similar to what they see with influenza shots.

Misinformation is one of the biggest challenges, she says. “Social media myths happen quicker than we can catch up to them.”

To address hesitancy, long-term care employers are using individual counseling to better understand workers’ concerns and are offering incentives, such as additional time off, to get more staffers vaccinated.

“The more people who get vaccinated, of all ages, the better for our health care workforce,” Cullen said.

Richard and Myrna Schultz, Maplewood snowbirds who spend winters in Arizona, came back to Minnesota before getting their second dose of vaccine. After the challenges they faced getting signed up in Arizona, both were worried they would have a hard time completing their vaccinations in Minnesota.

“Everybody down there had a heck of a time getting theirs,” Richard Schultz said.

But once they got in touch with their doctor in Minnesota, they were “expedited.”

Many Minnesota health providers continue to prioritize seniors and others with underlying health conditions that put them at the highest risk of severe infection.

“It’s a big weight off our shoulders,” Schultz said.