Viral Illness Vaccine Dashboard

Data represents vaccination data from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) matched to encounters recorded by participating health systems. 

COVID-19 Vaccine

COVID-19 vaccines include all seasonal vaccinations for COVID-19. For vaccine series with multiple doses, only a single dose is included as a vaccination in this data.

Flu Vaccine

The flu vaccine includes all seasonal vaccinations for Influenza A and B. 

Seasons 

The COVID-19 and Flu vaccines are typically released in the fall between September and October, but the exact date can vary from season to season. Seasons begin on CDC MMWR Week 30 (late July).

Vaccinated Population 

The vaccinated population is the total number of vaccinated people who have received the vaccines of interest during a given week or vaccine season.

Percent Vaccinated

Among people with a health care encounter at a participating health system in the past three years, the number of people vaccinated divided by the number of people with a qualifying encounter.

Population (Denominator)

The population included in the dashboard is limited to people who visited a participating health system. For each denominator year, patients included have had an encounter in the two years leading up to that year, and the one year after. For the current year, the index date is the date on which the data is run, while for all other years, the index date is January 1. See below for an example of the encounter periods for a data pull being run on 08/21/25. 

Age

Age on the date of vaccination. For someone who is not vaccinated, the age at the end of the three-year inclusion period.

Geography

Geography is based on the last reported address of the patient. Data is presented at the county level. Geographic metrics may differ from non-geographic data.

Sex

Sex represents the sex of the individual as reported in the electronic health record.

Social Vulnerability Index (SVI)

The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) ranks census tracts on various factors and offers a percentile representation of social vulnerability, which is presented here as four levels of vulnerability ranging from low, mid-low, mid-high, and high. Counties can contain multiple groups with different levels of vulnerability, as SVI data is based on census tracts. 

SVI is a commonly used tool for public health planning and emergency preparedness. SVI is used to help predict how at-risk a community is to natural disasters, epidemics, climate change, and other public health emergencies. The SVI takes into consideration several factors, such as community poverty levels, types of housing, household characteristics, and more, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Race

Race is collapsed with Hispanic ethnicity. If someone identifies as Hispanic, then they are listed as Hispanic. If they do not identify as Hispanic, then their first reported race is listed.

Rurality

Rurality considers RUCA classifications as well as the percentage of the population living in a rural area as defined by the U.S Census Bureau. Classification is at the census-tract level, and counties can have populations in all categories. The definitions of each group are:

• Urban/Suburban: Less than 50 percent of the population lives in a rural area and not a rural RUCA.
• Exurban: Greater than 50 percent of the population lives in a rural area and not a rural RUCA.
• Small Urban: Less than 50 percent of the population lives in a rural area and a rural RUCA.
• Rural: Greater than 50 percent of the population lives in a rural area and a rural RUCA.