Essentia Health Administers First COVID-19 Vaccines in Duluth

DULUTH, Minn.-Essentia has announced they have begun vaccinating some of their staff in Duluth for COVID-19.

About 120 of our front-line workers, those directly involved in caring for COVID-positive patients, will be vaccinated today. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which received emergency-use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 10, requires two doses 21 days apart to be fully effective.

“This is truly an historic day,” said Dr. Richard Vetter, chief medical officer for Essentia Health’s West Market. “The availability of this vaccine provides hope and encouragement for all of us to continue our fight against this virus.”

Earlier this week, Essentia Health in Duluth received its initial shipment of 975 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Essentia will adhere to CDC and state health department guidelines for the distribution of vaccines. The first phase includes health care providers and residents of long-term-care facilities. They will be followed by essential workers, such as teachers, police officers and firefighters, then adults with high-risk medical conditions and those over the age of 65.

Waitlists are not part of either CDC or state health department guidelines at this time.

The timeline for other populations will be determined by the roll-out of additional vaccines and quantities.