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ROCHESTER, Minnesota (KTTC) – With so little vaccine to distribute, who gets it can be very important.
Here in Rochester, there are concerns that Mayo Clinic employees who do not have direct contact with COVID-19 patients will be prioritized before others in line for the vaccine.
“We follow state and federal government guidelines for who should be vaccinated. We are not straying from guidelines, ”said Dr Abinash Virk, Mayo Clinic infectious disease specialist.
However, rumors in Cité Médicale claim otherwise.
“I’m not sure exactly where the rumor is coming from,” Dr Virk said. “We know some of the teleworkers were vaccinated, but they were the ones who came to campus for other jobs.”
Mayo says she only gave the vaccine to those in the state’s group 1A. It did not even reach those of subcategory 1A3 due to a lack of supply.
“We are ready to vaccinate. We have a phenomenal ability to vaccinate people in Mayo,” Virk said. “We have the capacity to vaccinate 10,000 people per week.”
In addition to the lack of vaccine doses, things were complicated for the next group to be vaccinated, 1B.
“Yesterday, the Minnesota Department of Health recommended immunizing people over 65,” Virk said.
Previously, 1B only included people over 75, but it’s now a broader category.
Vaccination plans for this group have already started, but administration of the vaccine to all 1A residents is not yet complete.
“About 60 to 70 percent of the people we invited have been vaccinated. There are a few more who are awaiting vaccination,” Virk said. “We hope to be able to complete this in the next few weeks.”
Dr Virk reports that only a small percentage of Mayo employees have received both doses of the vaccine.
She says Mayo is also following state guidelines for administering the second dose, which increases the vaccine’s effectiveness from 80 to 90 percent to over 95 percent.
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