Cook County public health shares update on COVID-19 vaccine

Public health and healthcare officials in Cook County are starting to prepare for a slow rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, with the first phase of distribution possibly occurring within a month, according to Cook County Public Health Supervisor Grace Grinager.

The initial distribution of the vaccine will be limited, with healthcare workers and residents of Cook County’s long-term care facility being the initial recipients of the vaccine, Grinager said.

Gov. Tim Walz is scheduled to announce this week his administration’s plans on when Minnesota will start getting its first doses of COVID-19 vaccines and who will be the first to get them, according to the Associated Press.

The governor said he expects to hold “a very extensive briefing” about the vaccine, possibly Monday or Tuesday of this week, on where Minnesota stands in the process. Details are still being worked out on the federal level about who gets priority — such as senior citizens and health care workers — and what the distribution plan will look like, Walz said, according to the AP.

Grinager spoke with WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs about the coronavirus vaccine distribution in Cook County in an update that aired live Dec. 7. Below is their conversation specific to the vaccine.

Joe Friedrichs December 7, 2020