From Cook County Public Health and Human Services - January 15, 2021

On Friday, Cook County Public Health announced that 345 county residents, or 6.5 percent of the county’s population, have received at least one dose of the vaccine, as compared to 2.9 percent statewide. 

On January 14, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced guidance for health departments and providers to begin vaccinating all residents over the age of 65. The ability to expand vaccination is dependent on the amount of vaccine that the county receives from the federal government via MDH.

“Cook County is still working through group 1A, including hospital staff, first responders and other health care workers,” said Public Health Supervisor and Emergency Operations Center Co-Incident Commander Grace Grinager.

Public Health will continue to refer to MDH guidelines in determining vaccination priority once group 1A vaccinations are complete. As we are creating our comprehensive plan for expanding vaccination, we also expect to be able to give the second dose of the vaccine 21 or 28 days later. 

“We are looking forward to being able to expand the group of Cook County community members whom we are able to vaccinate in the coming weeks,” stated Grinager. “We urge patience on the part of residents who are looking forward to receiving their vaccine.  Please be assured that we are working with our healthcare partners locally to increase the volume of people we are able to vaccinate as the supply of vaccine increases.”

Cook County Public Health and healthcare officials encourage residents with questions about vaccine distribution to note: 

• Public Health is not gathering contact information from the over-65 general population at this time.  There is no “list” of residents who would like to receive the COVID-19 vaccine
• Cook County Public Health will issue an updated media release when it is able to offer the vaccine to a broader group of county residents
• Residents can visit the Cook County COVID-19 hub site for current information on vaccine distribution at www.cookcountycovid19.org
• Anyone with questions can contact the Cook County COVID-19 hotline/email with vaccine related questions

Additional information is available on MDH’s vaccine data dashboard at https://mn.gov/covid19/vaccine/data/index.jsp.