About half of Olmsted County school workers have been offered Covid vaccine

Fifty to 60 percent of Olmsted County’s student-facing school staff have been offered the vaccine, public health officials reported Thursday.

The updated figures come as the state continues a gradual transition into the phase 1B group, which includes K-12 educators and day care staff.

At Rochester Public Schools — which has been wrestling with decisions on when to bring back students for in-person learning — at least 1,400 school staff have been invited to set up an appointment to receive their first dose of the vaccine, according to district spokesperson Heather Nessler.

While data privacy laws prevent the district from knowing exactly how many district employees went through with a vaccination, Nessler said she suspects “it’s likely high that most of them were able to get their appointments,” citing anecdotal feedback from staff.

In total, RPS has identified roughly 3,100 staff and First Student bus drivers who meet the criteria to be vaccinated as part of the latest priority group.

When remaining school workers may receive the vaccine, however, remains a fluid situation. Nessler noted that the amount of vaccine available for district employees changes “very frequently.”

“Last week was a big week for Dose 1,” Nessler said via email. “This week, however, we have only had about 80 opportunities for Dose 1.”

Due to size differences, Olmsted County Public Health says smaller districts in the county are further along with the vaccination process than RPS.

Across Olmsted County, about 1 in 4 residents — 35,312 people — have now received at least one dose of the vaccine; 17,866 have completed the series.

Both figures rank among the highest in the state. In fact, Olmsted County has more residents who have received both doses of the vaccine than Ramsey County, which has roughly three and a half times the population. (Chalk that up to having a high percentage of health care workers here.)

Meanwhile, as vaccination efforts continue, cases of Covid-19 in Olmsted County continue to trend downward. This past week, the county recorded 225 positive cases, the lowest number since October.

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Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.