COVID-19 vaccine milestones approach, but hesitancy could stifle momentum

Apr. 17—MANKATO — As south-central Minnesota races toward half of all eligible residents being at least partially inoculated against COVID-19, the race is on to vaccinate enough of the remainders to reach herd immunity.

Minnesota was on the precipice of the 50% milestone Friday and south-central Minnesota is on track to soon follow, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Health. About 48.1% of residents in the south-central region had at least one vaccine dose as of Friday, including three counties already at or above 50%.

Public health experts have pointed to at least 70% as a goal to stop COVID-19's spread.

Getting there won't be easy, although data suggests Minnesotans are less hesitant about vaccines than residents in neighboring states. This week's pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine might make the hurdle taller.

The pause came as a result of exceedingly rare blood clotting side effects found in six women after receiving the vaccine — out of 6.8 million doses administered. Despite Moderna and Pfizer vaccines not having those side effects associated with them, further inoculation progress could prove challenging if the pause on J&J leads more people not to trust the others.

A recent Monmouth University Poll found 21% of Americans claim they'll never get the vaccine if they can avoid it. The results came before the J&J news. Polls after a separate vaccine in Europe had similarly rare issues found confidence in it dropped after authorities paused it.

Younger people are the age group least likely to seek the vaccine. Two students at Minnesota State University said Friday the J&J pause was concerning enough for them to decline to get vaccinated.

Lucy Martin, 20, and Hailey Budke, 19, are both in the age group in which the blood clots occurred. All six cases identified so far happened in women between 18 and 48.

The students said they were already hesitant to get vaccinated because they're in a low-risk age group for COVID-19. The J&J news gave them further pause.

"It definitely made my 'no' more definite," Martin said, adding she wanted to see more research into the vaccines.

They both know people who got the vaccine and didn't fault them for the decision. Budke said it was good her grandparents got it but added she already had a mild case of COVID-19 and didn't want to feel like a test subject for something authorized for emergency use.

State and local officials this week said education about vaccine safety will be needed to offset hesitation fueled by the rare side effects.

"We do understand this will prompt another round of questions from folks about safety and effectiveness," said Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. "It will reinforce our need to get people good information and get it to them from people they trust."

Even before the J&J vaccine pause, certain pockets of Minnesota were experiencing another issue in their vaccine progress. Some counties saw open appointment slots go unfilled, a change from when supply wasn't keeping up with demand for much of 2021's first quarter.

Faribault and Martin counties in particular reported challenges filling vaccine slots in recent weeks. Extensive outreach was needed to administer 270 of the 300 doses available through the joint human services agency for the two counties last week.

The agency administered the remaining 30 doses this week while declining an additional allotment, said Chera Sevcik, human services executive director for Faribault and Martin counties.

"One of the factors that played into our decision to decline an allocation for this week was the number of COVID-19 vaccine providers available in our local area," Sevcik wrote in an email. "Counting our two public health vaccine clinics, we had 10 providers within the two counties offering vaccine."

Providers have to administer 90% of doses within 72 hours, part of the state's push to get shots in arms as fast as possible. When a bunch of providers in one geographic area receive vaccine allotments, meeting the goal gets tricky.

Reduced vaccine availability from the agency and a few other health care providers in the counties should give an idea of where demand is at, Sevcik said.

"This should tell us where we are at for demand and what the needs may be moving forward," she wrote. "If the existing health care partners who have vaccine experience difficulty in filling appointment slots, it may indicate we have reached a saturation point and decreased interest."

As of Friday, Faribault County had 46.9% of eligible residents with at least one dose. Martin County was at 48.4%.

Brown, Nicollet and Watonwan counties all reached 50% already. The lowest percentages in south-central so far are in Le Sueur and Sibley counties, each having 40.1% of residents with one dose.

"We do understand this will prompt another round of questions from folks about safety and effectiveness," she said. "It will reinforce our need to get people good information and get it to them from people they trust."

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