Police, Firefighters, And Transit Workers Get Vaccinated

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The City of Minneapolis announced this week first responders have gotten the first round of vaccinations against the coronavirus.

Emergency medical services providers from the Minneapolis Fire Department, Police Department and Metro Transit have started getting their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, City wrote in a statement this week.

Minneapolis Fire Chief Bryan Tyner had his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday morning.

Starting at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, Hennepin County began vaccinating first responders with the county’s initial shipment of the Moderna, Inc. COVID-19 vaccine, a county spokesperson wrote in a media release.

The county is offering vaccine to all emergency medical technicians (EMTs) in Hennepin County over the next two weeks. EMTs, including many firefighters and police, who are often first on the scene to provide lifesaving first aid, are at high risk of exposure from COVID-19: they are prioritized within Phase 1a of the vaccine rollout, according to the statement.

Nurses from Hennepin County Public Health, Hennepin Healthcare/MVNA (Minnesota Visiting Nurse Association) will be administering vaccinations to these first responders at vaccination clinics at local high schools.

Approximately 2,000 first responders in Hennepin County are eligible to receive their first dose of the vaccine over the two weeks of clinics. Follow-up clinics will be scheduled to ensure these first responders receive their second dose of the vaccine in the required timeframe.