Minnesota rounded up to a COVID-19 vaccination rate of 61% on Wednesday, bringing it closer to its 70% trigger for ending its mask mandate and shielding more people against a pandemic that has caused 7,255 deaths and 590,436 known infections in the state.
The pandemic totals include 15 COVID-19 deaths reported Wednesday and 919 more infections with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes the respiratory disease.
Minnesota's 70% goal is based on the percentage of people 16 and older who have received at least a first dose and won't change despite federal approval for people age 12 to 15 to receive Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.
The state's vaccination rate of 60.7% amounts to nearly 2.7 million recipients — and includes nearly 2.2 million people who have completed the one- or two-dose series.
Gov. Tim Walz has pledged to end Minnesota's indoor mask mandate on July 1, or sooner, if the state reaches its vaccination goal. Although vaccinations of those 12 to 15 won't affect that decision, Minnesota health officials encouraged parents to seek the shots for their children to protect them and prevent them from spreading the virus to vulnerable older people.
Minnesota on Wednesday reported a slight uptick to 6% in the positivity rate of diagnostic testing — a key indicator of viral transmission and a reminder that the latest pandemic wave isn't over despite recent declines in infections and hospitalizations. There were 471 COVID-19 cases admitted to Minnesota hospital inpatient beds on Tuesday.
"Every person who gets vaccinated helps us slow the spread of this disease and protect those who cannot get vaccinated," state Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said.
The federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices OK'd the shots for the younger age group on Wednesday, following the emergency authorization granted Monday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The age cutoff for the two-dose Moderna and single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines remains 18.