‘It’s devastating’: Minneapolis health officials cancel vaccine clinics after loss of federal funding

Minneapolis health officials say they’re worried about vaccination rates falling, after federal funding cuts prompted the end of a city vaccine clinic program.

The Minneapolis Health Department canceled several upcoming community vaccine clinics, after the loss of federal funds. Officials said the city had about $1.5 million left in its grant for vaccine clinics.

That money allowed the city to partner with local organizations to host free “pop-up” clinics. Residents could get vaccinated against COVID-19, flu, Mpox and measles — all without an appointment, and without insurance.

Health department staff said the pop-up clinics got vaccines to people who might not have scheduled appointments at a standard clinic, with a focus on offering resources in underserved communities.

Luisa Brandao is the director of public health initiatives at the Minneapolis Health Department.

“These community clinics are providing an opportunity for parents to bring their children to get caught up — if they don’t have insurance, if they didn’t have a primary medical home, to at least have the child come and get up-to-date,” Brandao said at a news conference Wednesday. 

The city reports 30 percent of 6-year-olds in Minneapolis are missing some of the standard childhood immunizations — more than the number who were missing vaccines before the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, a measles outbreak in the city affected mostly school-aged kids. The city’s clinics had partnered with Minneapolis Public Schools to try to close the gap.

The Trump administration cut billions in COVID-19-related funding in March, saying the money was going to waste now that the public health emergency is over. 

Brandao said she takes issue with that.

“One, COVID isn’t over, and two, there were a lot of fallouts from COVID that we still need to be addressing,” Brandao said. 

The department’s federal funds had been scheduled to expire over the course of the next year. Staff said they weren’t prepared to lose the money now, several months ahead of schedule.

The funding cuts affected three staff members who had been working on the clinics; they’re still with the health department working on other projects.

Sebastiana Cervantes was one of the clinic staff. She said she’s working with former clinic partners to keep up vaccine education projects, now that she can’t plan clinics. 

“It’s devastating to see how quickly those resources were taken from our community,” Cervantes said. “It’s just been a whirlwind.” 

Staff said they’re looking for resources to supplement the federal funding — and making backup plans for other programs funded by federal dollars. 

Health officials statewide are scrambling after the federal cuts. Last week, the Minnesota Department of Health announced layoffs for 170 employees.

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