By Rich Larson, News Director
As the number of Covdi-19 cases continue to climb, there is a general sense of frustration with the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines. Northfield Hospital & Clinics President and CEO Steve Underdahl echoed that frustration yesterday, calling the current state of the vaccination program “kind of a mess.”
Part of the problem is that a mass undertaking like this has not been done before, at least in most people’s lifetimes. Underdahl said because of that, health care systems like NH&C are constantly being asked to make adjustments.
“It is a rapidly evolving set of new information and criteria, much like it was at the beginning of the pandemic. It’s very reminiscent of the time when we would have a meeting in the morning, and we would have another in the afternoon and circumstances would be different. I was on a call as recently as 4:00 in the afternoon [on Sunday] with a group of CEO’s meeting with the Minnesota Department of Health talking about what’s coming soon and changing plans. So, there’s a lot of moving parts.”
Much of the frustration lays in the lack of available vaccine. Underdahl said that every state is looking for ways to do more, pointing to the nine pilot sites that the State of Minnesota opened last week to be ready should more vaccine come available. The lack of vaccine is the biggest problem, and without a good and steady supply, he said, making a strategic vaccination plan is difficult.
“Why some states get a bunch [of vaccine] and others get less, what the rhyme-and-reason is to what comes this week versus what came last week is, to be honest, a mystery. And I think it’s a mystery to our colleagues at the state as well. I think they’re trying to figure it out. If you watch some of the Sunday news shows, I think even some of the folks in the new administration in Washington are coming to the conclusion that they don’t currently understand their own current state.”
Underdahl said that the Biden administration’s approach to the vaccine rollout seems to be more detailed and focused than the approach taken by the Trump administration, although he also said the plan is “a couple hundred pages” long, so it’s taking a while to digest and understand the details. But, he said, the new approach is what the program needs.
“I do think that having a federal administration dedicated to the proposition that this needs to be a national “moonshot” kind of thing that we all do together, rather than this sort of disjointed 50 state solution, is going to help a lot.”
Still another problem is the skepticism and mistrust some people feel of a vaccine that was developed in record time. Underdahl said make no mistake, the vaccines on the market are both safe and effective.
“In terms of safety it was really studied quite well. Even though it was designed and developed quickly, the numbers of people in the studies, the rigor in the academic process for figuring out what the side effects might be, none of those things were cut corners. So, I think people can feel really good about this.”
He suggested that any research being done on the safety of the vaccines should include trustworthy sources like the Centers for Disease Control, the Minnesota Department of Health website, or the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Above all, he said, when people are able to get a vaccination, they should get a vaccination. Do not worry about whether there is another person who needs the dose more. When a shot is made available, get the shot.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Steve Underdahl can be heard here.
Lippert and Draheim offer contrasting opinions on Walz energy plan
Last week Governor Walz announced an ambitious energy goal for the state of Minnesota. The Governor said he has a plan to see that Minnesota is using only clean energy by 2040.
State Representative Todd Lippert said he is very supportive of the Governor’s plan.
“We need a clean grid, we need to act on climate as quickly as possible and we can get there. Wind and solar energy are getting cheaper all the time. They’re much cheaper than coal. Battery storage technology is developing. Technology around hydrogen power is developing, too. So we know we have some new technology coming on board. We can take this leap, and we need to act quickly. And I look forward to passing that bill out of committee.”
Meanwhile, State Senator Rich Draheim said that he also believes the goal is attainable. He just wants to make sure the state has options when it comes to producing electricity.
“I’m the one that just pushes for a diverse power grid. Remember a couple winters ago, when the wind turbines weren’t turning, the solar panels weren’t producing any electricity, the wind turbines were in fact requiring energy from another source. And then they throttled back the natural gas. So, we need that baseline power source of some sort. And, done properly, nuclear is a great, clean energy source. But we just need a balanced power grid. We can’t just rely on one source of electricity.”
The Senator, however, was far more skeptical about the governors proposed new emission standards, saying that California style regulations are not
realistic in Minnesota.
“For a lot of us that drive a bigger vehicle, we wouldn’t have an option. Especially those of us in the more rural areas that have a little farther to drive. My closest grocery store is ten miles away. California is pushing to ban lawn mowers. So where does it start and where does it stop. That would be something I would urge people to think about when they’re looking at this.”
Still, Representative Lippert said he believes that there is a way to achieve the Governor’s goals.
“There is definitely a pathway to get there. We had the Citizen Utility Board, which is very focused on the consumer and making sure that energy is affordable and accessible. Annie Levenson-Falk said to us “This is an achievable goal.” We’ll have to have new technology to get us to that last ten percent from 2035-2040, but we can do it. We can get there.”
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Todd Lippert can be heard here.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Senator Rich Draheim can be heard here.
