Legislative Update- Survey & Vaccine News

Dear Neighbors,

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended and participated in our District 57 Virtual Town Hall meeting last night. We covered a wide variety of topics; if you missed it, you can check out the conversation here. Stay tuned for a future meeting details!

Minnesota has made progress in the fight against COVID-19. Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are all trending downward, and our vaccination process is improving as the vaccine supply increases. As of today, 928,963 Minnesotans have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 484,383 have completed the series. Last week, Governor Walz announced the next steps in this process. Today, it was announced that Minnesota will receive 45,200 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week. Immunizations will begin shortly after doses arrive to Minnesota providers.

Our state is expected to exceed the goal of administering vaccines to 70 percent of Minnesotans who are 65 years old or older by the end of March. Once we hit this benchmark, people with certain underlying health conditions and those who are at a high risk for workplace exposure will become eligible. Current projections indicate that every Minnesotan should be able to get a vaccine this summer.

If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, I encourage you to check out Minnesota’s COVID-19 Vaccine Connector, a new tool to help people find out when, where, and how to get a vaccine. It can let you know when you’re eligible to be vaccinated, connect you to resources to schedule a vaccine appointment, and alert you if there are vaccine opportunities nearby. To sign up, visit mn.gov/vaccineconnector or call 833-431-2053.

Legislation Update

Last week, I presented my legislation to the House Education Finance Committee which would allow teachers and school employees to access workers compensation if they contract COVID-19. Vaccine administration is underway for our teachers and school staff, but we must remain cautious. The threat of the virus is still here, and months remain in the 2020-2021 school year. My bill would serve as a critical gap measure to protect economic security for the school workers who are at high risk of exposure, and I’ll continue to advocate for it.

On the House Floor, the legislature passed a bipartisan measure on Monday to allow dentists to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. I’m pleased to share it’s been signed into law and am optimistic this will help expedite the vaccine administration progress.

Survey

I hope you’ll take a moment to fill out my 2021 legislative survey. It’s important for me to hear all viewpoints and opinions about potential solutions for our state and community; especially as we focus our efforts on rebuilding and recovering post-pandemic. Thank you for sharing your input!

Keep in Touch

Please continue to reach out anytime at rep.john.huot@house.mn or 651-296-4306. I appreciate your questions and the opportunity to provide assistance.

Have a great rest of the week,

John