Star Tribune
Minnesota pharmacies want permission, funding to administer vaccines post-pandemic
Pharmacies received emergency authority during the COVID-19 pandemic to vaccinate most Minnesotans, and now they want funding and permission to make that gig permanent.
Leaders of Minnesota’s struggling independent and small chain pharmacies gathered with DFL lawmakers Tuesday at the Capitol to advocate for the expansion, arguing that it would preserve vaccine access in rural and urban areas and help keep pharmacies in business. Bipartisan bills cosponsored by 25 lawmakers would allow pharmacies to provide flu and COVID-19 vaccines to anyone 3 and older, and other recommended vaccines to anyone 6 and older. They also would engage in practice agreements with doctors that would allow them to collect lab specimens, interpret basic test results, and modify or discontinue drug therapies.
The medical landscape has changed since the pandemic, and some clinics are relying on their local pharmacies to take on more vaccinations, said Jason Miller, clinical program manager for the Coborn’s pharmacy chain. Many clinics didn’t want to risk purchasing much of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier this year when it switched from being federally funded to commercially available, he said, so families had to go to pharmacies if they wanted those shots.
“We would take a significant step backwards in terms of access to care for residents in Minnesota” if the legislation isn’t passed, Miller said.
Even before the pandemic, pharmacists could provide flu shots to Minnesotans 6 and older, and other recommended vaccines to people 13 and older. But they received permission under a federal emergency order to provide COVID-19 and other vaccines to those 3 and older during the pandemic, and to empower pharmacy technicians to administer the jabs. The terms of that federal order are slated to expire at year’s end.
The legislation would also ensure that pharmacists are paid by Minnesota’s Medical Assistance program at the same rate as doctors to administer vaccines and basic tests for strep and other infections. The program for low-income Minnesotans and those with disabilities provides health benefits to roughly one-fifth of the state’s population.
The proposal is one of three that DFL lawmakers championed Tuesday to stabilize Minnesota’s pharmacy industry, which has lost a third of its independent pharmacies and a fifth of its small chain pharmacies since 2018. Other bills would increase the payment rates by which pharmacies are paid for dispensing medications and administering basic health care services. Fiscal notes estimate the three bills combined would cost a total of nearly $2 million next year and $3.4 million the year after that.
Customers of St. Paul Corner Drug stood with pharmacists and lawmakers to advocate for the changes, citing problems they had getting their medications when their health plans switched them to chain or mail-order pharmacies. Dave Little, 74, said his local pharmacy was much more helpful filling his prescriptions to manage glaucoma and prevent stroke, and that a mail-order company had a “glitchy” website and “illogical” policies that made him jump through hoops to get refills.
“At my age, you start to lose your ability to jump through hoops,” he quipped.
The Minnesota Medical Association, representing the state’s doctors, said in a statement that it supports the financial relief for pharmacies but believes pediatric vaccinations are best provided during well-child visits with doctors. As a compromise, the legislation would prevent pharmacists from providing vaccines other than COVID and flu to preschoolers, and require them to counsel parents about the benefits of well-child visits.
DULUTH – In the late 1960s, James Ulland was a commercial tree farmer with 660 acres of tax-forfeited land he had acquired between French River and Alborn, in northern Minnesota. He had started with 10,000 trees and quickly expanded to 140,000 — with plans to add 60,000 red pine and white spruce seedlings in the spring.
This rated as a superlative: In the previous two years, Ulland had planted more trees in St. Louis County than any other private individual. He told a reporter from the Duluth News Tribune at the time that the red pines wouldn’t hit maturity until he was 109 years old.
In 1968, Ulland’s occupation was listed as economist/tree farmer when was elected to the Minnesota House and later to the Minnesota Senate from traditionally Democratic-leaning Duluth. He spent 15 years in state politics and was later appointed by Gov. Arne Carlson to be the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce. In 1997, he founded Ulland Investment Advisors, a boutique Minneapolis firm where he spent the rest of his career.
“It didn’t matter whether it was politics or business or family and friends — he was very funny, very smart with a quick wit, and very active,” said Ann Glumac, who is married to Ulland’s brother Bill Ulland.
Former Gov. Arne Carlson remembered Ulland as bright with a good sense of humor and a delight to work alongside. He is remembered as a strong environmentalist with a message about the hole in the ozone layer and its impact on mankind, Carlson said.
“He was the first [layperson] to grasp the early stages of what we now call climate change,” Carlson said. “He began to realize over time that we had to develop policies that had a long-term impact and to recognize that the earth’s climate was changing and it was harmful to man’s ability to survive.”
Mike Jaros, who served in the Minnesota House about the same time as Ulland and represented neighboring areas, said he always admired Ulland. They came from different parties, but DFLer Jaros said he enjoyed working with Ulland.
The first major snowstorm of the season was marching across central and southern Minnesota Thursday morning, creating difficult travel conditions, delaying or closing some schools and turning the brown landscape into a winter wonderland.
A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect from the Red River Valley in northwestern Minnesota east to Duluth and south through the Twin Cities into western Wisconsin. Between 4 and 7 inches could fall along and north of I-94 while 3 to 6 inches could pile up in southern and southwestern Minnesota, where a Winter Weather Advisory is in place, the National Weather Service said.
“Plan for a slick and hazardous Thursday morning commute,” the National Weather Service said. “Allow extra time to get to your destination and remember, take it slow.”
Metro area roads were snow-covered at 6 a.m. even as a full complement of Minnesota Department of Transportation plows were out attempting to clear them off. Snow was falling at about a half inch to an inch an hour, making the job tough.
Metro Transit buses, light-rail trains and the Northstar Commuter lines were running with “minimal delays” at 5:30 a.m., the agency said.
The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport reported eight delayed flights, four outbound and four inbound, as of 6 a.m., but no cancellations, according to the flight tracking website Flightaware.com.
Brainerd, Fergus Falls, Little Falls and Royalton in outstate Minnesota, and Stillwater in the metro area were among districts calling off classes Thursday while others will start classes a couple hours late.
Snow is expected to wind down by late afternoon in most places, but gusty winds will blow around anything that falls impacting travel late into the night, the Weather Service said.
Star Tribune
Investigators searching for additional victims as Hastings man faces child porn charges
A 27-year-old Hastings man has been accused in federal court of producing child pornography over a roughly two-year span, and investigators are trying to identify additional potential victims.
Hunter James Geidlwas charged with four counts of either production or possession of child pornography in federal court Dec. 10. He has pleaded not guilty.
According to the charges, Geidl employed and used minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct for producing explicit videos from July 2022 to March 2024. He is also accused of possessing a video file of pornographic material involving a minor in 2022.
Geidl made his initial appearance in court Friday and remains in custody, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger.
Investigators believe other minors may have been victimized and ask that if anyone believes their child has been in contact with Geidl to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or tips.fbi.gov.
