HealthPartners President and CEO Andrea Walsh Statement on Next Phase of COVID-19 Vaccine Expansion

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – COVID-19 has taken a tremendous toll on Minnesotans, our families, our businesses and schools, and our health care system. We want to offer a vaccine to every Minnesotan as quickly and as safely as possible. Today’s announcement from Gov. Walz is an important step in creating additional points of vaccination access.

Health systems must focus on those at highest risk right now – especially the elderly who are at the greatest risk of death from COVID-19. We’re grateful to the Governor for allowing us the flexibility to begin to reach these populations, despite the limitations of vaccine supply to date.

Our clinics and health care systems in Minnesota have what it takes to vaccinate a lot of people, fast. Our infrastructure in Minnesota is one of the strongest in the country and we stand ready to serve Minnesota and partner to get this job done. At this point, our most critical need is for the federal government to get more vaccine to the state so that the state can allocate more.