Booster Eligibility To Expand To All MN Adults This Week

MINNEAPOLIS — All Minnesota adults should soon be eligible to receive coronavirus vaccine booster shots, with state health officials planning to expand eligibility this week, according to reports.

Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said Tuesday that state officials will not wait for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to expand booster eligibility to all people 18 and older, with Minnesota “now the fastest growing COVID hotspot in the country,” KNSI reports.

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The CDC currently recommends booster shots for people 65 and older; adults who under 65 who have underlying medical conditions or increased risk of exposure to the coronavirus; and those who received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Malcolm said Tuesday that hospital capacity has shrunk over the past week, with just 1 percent of hospital beds and 2 percent of ICU beds available in the Twin Cities metro area, Fox 9 reports.

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Minnesota’s seven-day positivity rate recently climbed above the 10 percent “high risk” threshold for the first time in almost a year. Minnesota has the worst seven-day case rate in the country, with 472 per 100,000 residents, the CDC said over the weekend.

The Minnesota Department of Health on Tuesday reported 51 new COVID-19 deaths, taking the state’s death toll past 9,000 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last spring.