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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota health officials warned on Monday that the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus now accounts for more than 75% of the state’s new COVID-19 cases and is a serious threat to them. people who have not yet been vaccinated.
“There is definitely a mindset that we are done with COVID,” Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said during a briefing for reporters. “But it is fairer to say that we are in a critical transitional phase.”
READ MORE: COVID in Minnesota: 424 new cases, 3 more deaths reported as Delta variant continues to spread
The commissioner said the state has made significant progress and now has much better tools to tackle the pandemic. But she warned that the state had not achieved herd immunity and that vaccination rates in parts of Minnesota were well below average. The variant will find unprotected people and infect them at much higher rates, she said.
The delta variant has gone from less than 1% of cases in Minnesota to more than three-quarters in just a few weeks, said Kris Ehresmann, the state’s director of infectious diseases.
Malcolm said unvaccinated Minnesotans made up the vast majority of new cases and hospitalizations in the state. “Cases of rupture” among vaccinated Minnesotans remain “very rare,” she said, adding that 99.9% of fully vaccinated Minnesotans have not contracted the virus.
READ MORE: COVID in Minnesota: 375 new cases reported, positivity rate at 2.2%
In other words, Ehresmann said, less than 3,900 of the nearly 3 million fully vaccinated Minnesotans have had breakthrough cases.
Malcolm said she expects Minnesota to reach 70% of its population aged 16 and over to be vaccinated by the end of August, but she called it a milestone, not a goal.
Malcolm and Ehresmann held the media briefing, their first in several weeks, as the state’s case count rebounds after a period of calm. While the number of new cases in the state fell to around 100 a day several weeks ago, they have skyrocketed to 200 and 300 and even as high as 400 recently. They said the state is not actively considering imposing vaccination warrants or reimposing other restrictions, but welcomes this when employers voluntarily take such steps.
“Our actions will help determine what the next phase of the pandemic looks like and how disruptive it will or will not be,” said Malcolm.
NO MORE NEWS: COVID in Minnesota: Data shows conservative counties in state have lower vaccination rates, reflecting national trend
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