The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is launching its ‘Roll Up Your Sleeves, Teens’ week starting tomorrow, April 27 through May 1. During this week, appointments will be prioritized for 16- and 17-year olds and their parents at the Minnesota's Mall of America Community Vaccination Site. The Pfizer vaccine has only been authorized to vaccinate youth ages 16 and up and will only be administered to those ages 16 and up. 

Why is this so important?
Minnesota is seeing a significant increase in COVID-19 cases, especially among younger Minnesotans. Just last week, the state exceeded the previous record high set in November 2020 for the number of cases associated with schools. We have approached the numbers of students infected during last November’s peak, and we have a lot of work to do to ensure that community transmission goes down—a huge part of this solution is ensuring that our students who can get vaccinated do get vaccinated— and those who can’t, get tested.

Getting vaccinated will help give teens the best chance to learn in person, participate in sports and activities, attend prom and graduation. Of course, they will still need to continue to wear masks, wash their hands, and remain socially distanced. For those too young to be vaccinated, testing is critical.

How to make an appointment:
For the metro area, use this link to schedule an appointment at the Mall of America Community Vaccination Site now: Mall of America Community Vaccination Registration

In addition to accessing scheduling at the Mall of America, below are links to other vaccination sites:

• State Fair
• Roy Wilkins, Mankato, Duluth, Rochester, St. Cloud 
• Lino Lakes
• Oakdale

Consent guidance:
Children under the age of 18 must have consent signed on their behalf by a parent or guardian when scheduling an online appointment. It is very important that the scheduling forms are filled out correctly in advance and to have a parent or legal guardian go to the vaccine appointment with their 16- or 17- year-old to learn about the COVID-19 vaccine and provide consent for the child to receive the vaccine. Additional information on Parental Consent can be found here.

For the Mall of America Community Vaccination Site:
If children under the age of 18 arrive without a parent, The Community Vaccination Program at Mall of America will vaccinate if the attestation box on the pre-registration form is checked and the parent has signed the consent. If the parent/guardian has not signed the consent in advance, The Community Vaccination Program can accept written consent from a parent/guardian accompanying the minor child to the appointment. If a parent/guardian is not present, staff will request that the patient call their parent/guardian and staff will attempt to obtain verbal consent. If staff are not able to obtain pre-registration or onsite verbal/written consent, staff are not allowed to vaccinate the patient. 

Additional reminders:
If someone is fully vaccinated and is exposed, they do not need to quarantine if all of the following are true:

• The COVID-19 exposure was at least 14 days after their vaccination series was fully completed.
• They do not currently have any symptoms of COVID-19.
• People who have had COVID-19 (with a positive lab-confirmed test) in the past 90 days also do not need to quarantine.