Snowplow drivers could wait until June for vaccine
Utility, other "essential workers" learn they now fall behind 1.1 million residents over 65 prioritized for shots first
5:19 pm, Feb. 2, 2021
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Snowplow drivers (seen here in 2019) are considered essential workers, yet they may not get COVID-19 vaccine until June. Photo: Elizabeth Nida Olbert/Post-Bulletin
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- When they first announced a vaccine prioritization plan back in December, state health officials were supposed to have gotten to "essential workers" by now.
Back before Christmas, Commissioner of Health Jan Malcom often estimated that getting through the half-million Minnesotans within three tiers of group 1a -- a group made up of public-facing and critical health care workers, EMS, and those living and working in long-term care -- would require all of January.