Rural Minnesota Health Officials Discuss Low Vaccination Rates

MINNESOTA — Fewer Minnesotans are seeking the COVID-19 vaccine, data from the Minnesota Departmen of Health shows. The rate of vaccinations has fallen since the week of April 4, when 406,783 doses were administered. Just 214,973 doses were administed in the first week of May.

The vaccine rate is especially slow in many of Minnesota's rural counties, including six where less than 40 percent of eligible residents have opted to receive the vaccine.

Meanwhile, nearly 70 percent of residents 16 and older have received at least one dose in Hennepin County, and several of the other metro counties are not far behind.

Patch asked health officals in those six rural counties about why vaccinations have been so slow.

Kanabec County

• People with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine: 5,054 (38.7 percent)
• People who completed the vaccine series: 4,473 (34.2 percent)

"We believe it to be hesitancy at this point. We have tried numerous ways to reach out to every household in Kanabec County, most recently through a direct mail flyer to every households in seven different zip codes that are in or surround Kanabec County," Kathy Burski, the Kanabec County Community Health director, told Patch in an email.

"We have provided vaccinations in the homes of people who state they have difficulty getting out or have transportation issues. We have advertised on local radio stations, social media, local papers, websites and indicate people can call/contact us if they have barriers."

Burski said they have even offered on-site vaccinations for larger employers in the county, but none have accepted.

"While we have the capacity to vaccinate over 1,000 people a day, we are now struggling to get 100 people to sign up for first doses. We meet at least weekly to discuss the low uptake and brainstorm new ideas to try and increase the vaccination rate."

Wilkin County

• People with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine: 1,910 (38.1 percent)
• People who completed the vaccine series: 1,658 (33 percent)

"We believe many persons may have received their vaccinations through North Dakota pharmacies and the Veterans system," Diane Thorson, the interim public health director for Wilkin County, told Patch in an email.

"There is a gap and/or a delay in that data being entered into the ND immunization registry and then downloaded to the Minnesota registry. There is also issues with record matching if information is not entered exactly the same in both systems."

Thorson did acknowledge that vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccination sentiments in the community, and the number of people seeking vaccines has declined at the hospital, clinics, pharmacy, and public health offices.

Parents of school-age youth eligible to get the vaccine — people who are 16 and older — are choosing not to have their child vaccinated, according to Thorson.

Benton County

• People with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine: 11,054 (35.8 percent)
• People who completed the vaccine series: 9,127 (29.5 percent)

"The culture around COVID-19 and vaccinations in Benton County may help explain some of our low rates of COVID-19 vaccinations," Sam Hageman, the community health supervisor at Benton County Public Health, told Patch in an email.

"We’ve had very vocal community members speaking out against mitigation strategies and the COVID-19 vaccine. Flu vaccine immunization rates can help tell the story of our community by providing a baseline for where our community was at before COVID-19 ever happened. Benton County Public Health pulled our flu vaccine rates from MIIC to compare our flu vaccine rates to COVID-19 vaccine."

Hageman provided the following analysis comparing flu vaccine rates to COVID-19 vaccine rates:

According to MIIC data from 2018-2020, Benton County flu vaccine rate for 65+ has been 54%. For COVID-19 vaccine our rate for 65+ is currently at 60%. This is higher than what we have typically seen for vaccine rates for this age group in Benton County even though the state dashboard reflects Benton County being the lowest statewide.

According to MIIC data from 2018-2020, Benton County flu vaccine rate for 18-64yr. old’s has been 30%. For COVID-19 vaccine our rate for this age group is at 30%. This is exactly where our flu vaccine rates have been. So even though the state vaccine dashboard shows Benton County lagging behind, we are spot on compared to flu vaccine.

Health officials in Benton County say the state vaccine dashboard does not tell the whole story and believe the data may be misrepresenting Benton County vaccination rates due to shared jurisdictions along Benton County borders.

Isanti County

• People with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine: 11,837 (38.2 percent)
• People who completed the vaccine series: 9,194 (29.7 percent)

"We have a small public health team in Isanti County," Julia Lines, county administrator for Isanti, told Patch in an email. "Compared to other counties of similar or even slightly larger size, we have a much higher vaccination rate as far as local public health administration."

Lines said her small but dedicated team of eight public health nurses has administered the following vaccinations:

Total: 10,214

• Moderna: 9,283
• Pfizer: 853
• Janssen: 78

Doses from MDH:

• Moderna: 9000
• Janssen: 600

Doses from Allina:

• Pfizer: 850

"Local public health is also doing mobile clinics to meet people where they are and remove transportation barriers, and this has been very successful. I think the difference for Isanti County is the lack of hospital/clinic or pharmacy vaccinations. We also face some vaccination hesitancy here, but we will do our very best to get our residents vaccinated."

Sherburn County

• People with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine: 28,605 (39.4 percent)
• People who completed the vaccine series: 21,869 (30.1 percent)

"This is a complex issue and there are a variety of reasons we see low rates," Nicole Ruhoff, public health manager for Sherburne County, told Patch in an email.

Ruhoff listed the following eight reasons for the low rates in her county:

Misinformation-not using science-based, reputable information to make decisions about vaccines.

Vaccine Hesitancy-Concerns about side effects now and in the future such as flu like symptoms and fertility.

Inconvenience-Some have voiced concerns about having to make 2 appointments. Taking time off work or away from other duties make scheduling difficult.

Johnson and Johnson Pause-This was the vaccine of choice for some people and since it has been paused, people are deciding if this is still their vaccine of choice. It is not as available as it had been.

Accessibility-For some people, none of the options seem like a good fit. We feel that Sherburne County has a good variety of options between our healthcare systems, pharmacies and local public health.

Transportation-We have vaccinated people in their homes or assisted to find a vaccinator for people with limited options for transportation.

Population Composition-We have a young population overall, less 65+ population than many other counties.

Data-The data is not perfect! We continue to work with MDH to dig into the data to ensure it is an accurate account of Sherburne County.

Gov. Tim Walz hopes for 70 percent

As of Tuesday, more than 60 percent of Minnesota residents 16 and older — or 2,660,945 people — have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Just over 49 percent have completed their vaccine series.

Gov. Tim Walz announced Thursday that once 70 percent of Minnesotans ages 16 and older receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the mask mandate will end. The mandate will end regardless on July 1, according to Walz.

Also read: MN Counties With Highest, Lowest COVID-19 Vaccine Rate: LIST

Health officials in Todd County did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

A previous version of this article misstated the data for Benton County.