Minnesota sets fairs, fishing as lure for COVID-19 vaccinations

A new incentive program in Minnesota will offer 100,000 new COVID-19 vaccine recipients free fishing licenses or state park passes, or tickets to summer destinations such as Valleyfair and the State Fair.

Gov. Tim Walz and state health officials hope the modest incentives will be enough to boost COVID-19 vaccinations in Minnesota and nudge people who have been hesitant to get their shots. Unveiling the program at Fort Snelling State Park on Thursday, the governor called it "perfect timing" to increase vaccinations amid a sharp decline in the latest COVID-19 wave.

"We figured by the end of May that our vaccination program and the mitigation efforts we had taken would blunt that surge. That's proving to be true," Walz said. "This gives us a wonderful opportunity ... to get the last bunch of folks to get in and get vaccinated."

Effective Thursday, the next 100,000 people who receive COVID-19 vaccinations and register on a state reward website will be able to pick from free options. Rewards include $25 Visa gift cards, annual State Park passes or fishing licenses or tickets to Valleyfair, the Minnesota State Fair, the Mall of America Nickelodeon Universe, a Northwoods League baseball game, the Great Lakes Aquarium and the Minnesota Zoo.

Minnesota's program sides with the smaller retail and event incentives offered in Maine for COVID-19 vaccine recipients and less with the Ohio approach of entering vaccine recipients in a $1 million lottery.

Walz said more ambitious options were discussed but he believed an incentive program that focused on summer events outdoors was a "very Minnesota" approach that would entice younger adults at lower risk of severe COVID-19 illness who haven't been as motivated to get their shots.

He hoped some of them would choose their first fishing licenses, then buy new ones in the years to come.

Minnesota seeks to provide at least the first doses of vaccine to 70% of Minnesotans 16 and older by July 1. On Thursday, the state had reached 63.9%. At nearly 2.9 million first-dose recipients, Minnesota is fewer than 300,000 shots away from its goal.

Minnesotans 12 to 15 also became eligible after the minimum age for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was lowered from 16 to 12. More than 66,000 people — 23% of the 12 to 15 age group in Minnesota — have received shots within the last two weeks.

Walz credited the current level of vaccination for driving down coronavirus infections 50% in the last couple of weeks. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Minnesota also declined from a peak of 699 on April 14 to 334 on Wednesday.

Minnesota surpassed 600,000 reported infections Thursday — with the latest 100,000 infections coming over 70 days. By comparison, it took Minnesota 16 days in mid-November, before vaccines were available, to see an increase from 200,000 to 300,000 infections, and then 24 days to reach 400,000 in mid-December.

The governor said he still was concerned with the rate of COVID-19 deaths with 10 more reported Thursday.

Seven of the deaths involved senior citizens — a vulnerable group that has suffered 88% of Minnesota's 7,403 COVID-19 fatalities. But deaths also included someone 29 or younger from Redwood County and someone 34 or younger from Hennepin County. The state has recorded 34 COVID-19 deaths of people 34 or younger.

"These vaccines are almost 100% guaranteed to prevent death," Walz said.

While Minnesota is among the nation's leaders in its rate of fully vaccinated state residents, the weekly number of doses administered has fallen from 368,294 in the week beginning April 11 to 234,837 in the week beginning May 16.

The state has targeted vaccination campaigns at socially vulnerable communities where people have struggled to access shots because of work requirements or transportation barriers and are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness due to their race or underlying health conditions.

But the state also is showing lower vaccination rates in fringe suburbs surrounding the Twin Cities, and health officials said the incentives could target those communities as well.

Walz encouraged people to take advantage of the walk-up access for single-dose Johnson & Johnson shots at the federal vaccination site on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

"That's one shot and you're done," said Walz, who received the J&J vaccine. "You swing out there tomorrow, get your shot, you're done in 15 minutes, and then you get online and you pick what you want to do and get your incentive. We think it's a great way to kick off summer."

The incentive offer comes as Minnesota is scheduled on Friday to remove remaining capacity caps and social distancing restrictions on businesses and entertainment venues. Walz said he is confident of the decision to remove those limitations, crediting Mayo Clinic's COVID-19 modeling for predicting the current rate of decline in viral spread.

Mayo's COVID-19 forecast predicts another 50% drop in new infections in Minnesota in two weeks.

Removal of the restrictions will allow for a "true Memorial Day weekend," Walz said and, among other things, could lead to a fuller house of fans at the Xcel Energy Center if the Minnesota Wild win Game 7 in the NHL playoffs on Saturday and advance to the next round.

State infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann noted that viral transmission still remains a concern and unvaccinated people should consider wearing masks and practicing social distancing to protect themselves. The end of the state caps on indoor activities could result in more crowds and create more viral transmission risks.

Vaccinated people are at risk of breakthrough infections. Minnesota has been among the most aggressive states in tracking them and has found breakthrough infections in only 0.1% of fully vaccinated individuals.

Who: 100,000 new COVID-19 vaccine recipients through June 30.

What: $25 gift cards; park passes or fishing licenses; tickets to Valleyfair, Minnesota State Fair, Mall of America Nickelodeon Universe, Northwoods League, Great Lakes Aquarium or Minnesota Zoo.

Register: mn.gov/covid19/summer

Jeremy Olson • 612-673-7744