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Minnesota Department of Health

September 29, 2022

Minnesota News and Outreach

Bivalent Boosters

Bivalent vaccines are updated booster vaccines that protect against the original strain of COVID-19 and the Omicron variants currently circulating (BA.4 and BA.5). Updated COVID-19 boosters can both help restore protection that has decreased since previous vaccination and provide broader protection against newer variants.

People age 12 and older are now recommended to get an updated bivalent booster dose at least 2 months after their final primary series dose or last booster shot.

There are several options for where to get a bivalent booster.

• Check with your regular health care provider or local pharmacy to see if appointments are available.
• Minnesotans can make appointments at state-run vaccination sites:
• NEW: St. Paul Midway Community Vaccination Site
• Mall of America Community Vaccination Site
• Duluth (DECC) Community Vaccination Site
• Moorhead Community Vaccination Site
• Rochester Community Vaccination Site
• Use the state’s Find Vaccine Locations map to find vaccine providers near you. Providers will update their information as appointments are available.
• Check for vaccine appointments at Vaccines.gov, where you can search for appointments by vaccine type (e.g., Pfizer).
• Watch for vaccination clinics being offered at other community locations around Minnesota.

Protect Yourself from Flu this Season

In addition to making sure you are up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines, protect yourself by getting a flu vaccine. You can even get a COVID-19 vaccine and a flu vaccine at the same time if you are eligible.

Everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine every year unless they cannot because of medical reasons. It’s more important than ever to get a flu vaccine, especially for people at higher risk of serious illness from flu and COVID-19. 

Cover your cough, wash your hands, and stay home when sick to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and flu. If you are sick or have symptoms of COVID-19, talk to your doctor or other health care provider before you get your flu vaccine.  

Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Materials

We are adding new videos, print materials, and translated documents often. Check out the pages below to view, download, or print these resources.

Materials and Resources for COVID-19 Response Videos for COVID-19 Response

Visit Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for up-to-date information and follow MDH on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.

What's New

Vaccination After Having COVID-19

If you are not up to date on your COVID-19 vaccinations, talk to your health care provider about getting vaccinated. You can get vaccinated after you have completed your isolation period and are feeling better.

People who have recently had COVID-19 may consider waiting 3 months to get vaccinated because they may have some protection after being infected with COVID-19, but that protection decreases quickly over time. Certain factors, such as personal risk of severe disease, local COVID-19 community level, and the most common COVID-19 variant currently causing illness, could be reasons to get a vaccine sooner rather than later. It also takes time to build up immunity after receiving your primary series vaccine doses, so people may not want to delay those doses as long.

Vaccination continues to be the best way to protect yourself from getting very sick with COVID-19.

For more information, visit About COVID-19 Vaccine.

Share Your Story: Why I Got the COVID-19 Vaccine

There are a lot of reasons to get a COVID-19 vaccine, and we want to hear from Minnesotans what some of those reasons are.

We’re asking people to share why they got themselves or their children vaccinated for COVID-19 to help encourage others to do the same. Maybe you recently got your updated bivalent booster to be better protected before seeing vulnerable family members for holidays in a couple of months. Maybe you wanted to make sure your children were protected for a new school year. Whatever your reason for getting vaccinated, we want to hear from you.

You can record a short video to submit to MDH and we will help share some of the reasons people are rolling up their sleeves.

Visit Share Your Story: Why I Got the COVID-19 Vaccine for more information and instructions for submitting a story.

Updated Guidance and Resources

•  If You Are Sick or Test Positive: COVID-19

• COVID-19 Testing
• Getting Vaccinated for COVID-19 (PDF)
• COVID-19 Vaccine Basics (PDF)
• Protect Your Child from COVID-19 (PDF)
• COVID-19 Vaccine for Youth with Special Needs or Disabilities: Information for Caregivers (PDF)
• COVID-19 Vaccine Providers: Vaccine fact sheets
• Share Your Story: Why I Got the COVID-19 Vaccine
• LTC COVID-19 Vaccine Reporting Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
• COVID-19 Testing and Case Reporting Resources for Shelter and Correctional Settings (PDF)
• COVID-19 Therapeutics Checklist for Shelter and Correctional Settings (PDF)

NOTE: Look for an "Updated" date below guidance links on our website to know when the resource was last revised.

MDH COVID-19 Public Hotline

For questions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, call:

1-833-431-2053

Monday-Friday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

To connect directly to a representative in American Sign Language, click the "ASL Now" button on Contact Us: COVID-19 Questions.

Minnesota Department of Health  |  health.mn.gov

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