Minnesota hospitals say state vaccine distribution stands at ‘untenable crossroads’

Updated at 8:35 p.m.

A coalition of Minnesota hospitals say the state’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution system is harming patients and is calling on the state’s health department to give more vaccines to health care providers.

In a letter to Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, the Minnesota Hospital Association wrote that some clinics had not received doses for days, leaving them unable to immunize its older and most vulnerable patients.

“Despite our continued partnership and tireless efforts to work together with the state, we believe the vaccine allocation process has reached an untenable crossroads,” wrote association president Dr. Rahul Koranne. “The lottery system is hurting patients and communities and allowances to health care providers must increase.”

The letter from the hospital association marks a notable break in the partnership between the state and hospitals to have the Minnesotans vaccinated.

During the state’s initial deployment, hospitals served as hubs for vaccine distribution, giving the vast majority of doses to be administered to staff and, more recently, to those in private practice, such as dentists and non-physicians. affiliated with a hospital system.

In January, the state also opened up vaccination to people 65 and older, although most hospitals in Minnesota focus on their older patients first, leaving many people between 65 and 75 to trust. exclusively at state vaccination sites for vaccines. These appointments are secured thanks to a lottery system set up by the State.

Meanwhile, demand for vaccines far exceeds supply. On a weekly basis, the state has been tasked with determining where vaccines should be sent and how many local health care systems or public health services should receive.

“My members are increasingly placed in the impossible position of telling their patients and their communities that they don’t have vaccines for them,” Koranne wrote. “We have members who have not received a vaccine for three weeks, leaving the existing clinical infrastructure to quickly get shots in the inactive arms.”

In a statement, Malcolm said MDH informed the hospital association in an email Friday that there would be changes in a “random process” for small and medium providers.

“Starting with the vaccine arrival the week of February 15, we will move into a process where the eight regional health care coalitions will work with providers in their region to direct COVID-19 vaccine allocations based on capacity. providers, community needs and government priorities. Malcolm said. “With this new process, these groups will be responsible for advising MDH which specific sites in their region should receive the vaccines and where they should be shipped.”

Despite state guidelines that health care providers at high risk of contracting the virus and people living and working in long-term care should get vaccinated first, some hospitals in Minnesota have administered vaccines to patients. employees at low risk of contracting COVID. 19 on-the-job – telecommuters and non-patient-contact employees – a practice that has come under scrutiny by the state’s health ministry.

Koranne said hospitals and clinics have been preparing to administer vaccines for months and their storage and vaccination capacity has remained inactive as the state moved doses to large vaccination sites, where people must win a place in a lottery to get vaccinated.

This weekend, the state is administering about 9,000 doses at a single site in Minneapolis and plans to distribute vaccines soon to Duluth, Minnesota, and southern Minnesota.

Koranne said those places are out of reach for people who live in the western part of the state or are in rural areas, and wants the state to rethink the lottery.

“Maximizing the existing infrastructure and the role of clinics, hospitals and health systems in immunization enables vulnerable populations, including the elderly and disabled in Minnesota, to receive their vaccines at their local clinics where they receive regular immunizations. care, ”he said.