MINNEAPOLIS — When Minnesota Governor Tim Walz expanded COVID-19 vaccine availability to the next two tiers of priority groups on Tuesday, the woman behind the Minneapolis Vaccine Hunters Facebook group got busy.
"I've had hundreds of emails and messages and texts today," said Maura Caldwell, who has used the Minneapolis Vaccine Hunters group to connect thousands of Minnesotans with vaccine appointments across the state. "I'm just trying to handle everybody in the next phase."
Caldwell had known that people with certain high-risk medical conditions, such as down syndrome and sickle-cell anemia, were set to be part of the next tier. What she didn't expect, was that the state would also begin opening the door to the next tier, a much bigger group of roughly 1.1 million people who have underlying medical conditions and work in food service industries.
The Minnesota Department of Health says those at highest risk will receive first priority from medical providers and at state vaccination sites. Many pharmacies are already opening the door to both groups.
Kent Erdahl: "If there was some good advice that you could give to all of these groups, what would it be?"
Caldwell: "The absolute first step is the Minnesota Vaccine Connector. Fill that out with the accurate information about your job industry, your health conditions and they will, they are pumping out invites for these huge vaccination events every weekend, so within the next couple of days, people in these next couple of categories are going to start getting emails saying that they are eligible and that they have appointments, and they are doing thousands of people every weekend, so this is one of the easiest ways for people to not even have to look for an appointment. It finds them."
Erdahl: "If you're in that high-risk medical group, what other tips would you give, especially if they are seeing appointments at pharmacies filling up fast?"
Caldwell: "Contact your doctor or medical provider, either through MyChart or by picking up the phone. I think they are all prioritizing the second tier medical conditions. Also, call the pharmacies that are closest to you, ones that you can get to on a relatively short notice and ask if they have a waitlist and if you can be on it. If you're not able to get an appointment in the next couple of days, for sure, don't hesitate to put your name on a waitlist because every night they have to call people and use the doses for people who didn't show up."
Erdahl: "If you're in that bigger group, working in food service, maybe you're a server and you want to get an appointment as soon as you can, what advice would you give?"
Caldwell: "Walgreens is doing front-line, essential workers, which includes food service, and I believe Thrifty White and Sam's Club are as well. Check all of these different systems that are booking that group and just check them often. Be willing to drive a little bit too. If you are capable of driving and you have the time and means to do it, do it. That way the people who don't have that ability - time-wise, transportation-wise or health-wise - are able to get the ones that are closer to home."
Erdahl: "It's a lot to keep track of, several different pharmacies that are all adding appointments at different times. Any advice there?"
Caldwell: "Things are changing every day. On our Vaccine Hunters site, we are constantly pushing out alerts. Also, it's a community-based site, so if somebody else finds out that there are appointments at a specific clinic, or that one of the pharmacies is not doing a particular group, that information is going to be put out in real time."
Erdahl: "Any other tips?"
Caldwell: "My best piece of advice is to be patient. I know we've all waited a year, and so another week isn't that long. A month ago, everybody started to get vaccinated and it was almost impossible to find a vaccine appointment and now, as of a week ago, there was an abundance of them, so I feel like we're in that same boat now."
Sarah Curfman, executive director of the Down Syndrome Society of Minnesota, says the increased enrollment at pharmacies was immediately obvious to high-risk families this morning.
"To give you an example, prior to the governor's announcement this morning, at 8:45 a.m., there were more than 2,000 appointments across the state at Thrifty White," Curfman said. "By 9:45 there were 88."
Though she'd love to see those in Tier 3 wait a few days before signing up, she knows it won't be long before everyone who wants an appointment can find one.
"It's mainly just a sense of relief today," Curfman said.