Minnesota launches online dashboard for tracking COVID-19 vaccine

The Minnesota Department of Health has launched a new online dashboard for tracking COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the state.  

The dashboard shows the number of doses of the vaccine that have been administered as well as the number of doses that have been shipped to Minnesota. MDH says the dashboard will be updated daily at 11 a.m. 

DOSES ADMINISTERED

The dashboard shows 144,503 people have gotten at least one shot from Minnesota providers, and 7,392 people have gotten both doses of vaccine.

The data is as of Jan. 9. The numbers posted online lag by a few days to due delays in the reporting process. MDH says the dashboard will always be 3 days behind.

This is the first time MDH has reported the number of people who've gotten both doses.

DOSES SHIPPED

The dashboard shows 429,950 doses have been shipped to Minnesota. 

Some caveats with this number:

  • 100,500 are for the federal pharmacy provider program, which is not overseen by the state
  • The 429,950 also includes vaccines shipped ahead of time for people's second doses

COMPARISON WITH CDC TRACKER

The state's new dashboard shows fewer people have been vaccinated in Minnesota than the CDC dashboard, which put the number at 157,245 on Monday. MDH's Kris Ehresmann says the CDC is including people being vaccinated through the federal pharmacy provider program, which Minnesota does not oversee.

SHORTCOMINGS 

The data can't be downloaded like the data from the old dashboard could, making it more difficult for reporters and government watchdogs to track daily progress in each of Minnesota's counties.

The dashboard also doesn't show a percentage of people in each priority group that have been vaccinated. That will make it hard for the average person to see where they stand in the line to get the vaccine.