Vaccination data by race and ethnicity made possible through the groundbreaking partnership

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has been collaborating with the Minnesota Electronic Health Record (EHR) Consortium to identify and address disparities in COVID-19 testing. 

Photo courtesy of FDA

The data is generated when participating health systems produce a summary report for their patients who have received a vaccine as reported to the Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). Summary data contributors include Allina Health, CentraCare, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, Essentia Health, M Health Fairview, University of Minnesota, HealthPartners, Hennepin Healthcare, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Health System, and North Memorial Health. 

Race and ethnicity data will be published and updated weekly on the COVID-19 Vaccine Data Dashboard. Data reported by the Consortium does not represent information for all vaccinations and faces a number of limitations, including unmatched patient profiles and patients with no existing data or race or ethnicity information. Vaccine recipients must have received care from one of the participating health systems in the last 5-10 years in order to have information included in summary data.

In addition to the EHR partnership, Minnesota is using the COVID-19 Vaccine Connector to gather detailed demographic data to inform ongoing equitable vaccine strategies. The Connector uses detailed demographic information provided by users – including race, ethnicity and Medical Assistance status – to access more disaggregated data and keep goals on target.