Photo by Deb Gau MERIT Center coordinator Jasmine DeSmet cleans tables and chairs inside the MERIT Center Wednesday in preparation for a COVID-19 vaccination event this weekend. Gov. Tim Walz announced this week that one-time community vaccination events focused on essential workers would be held in Marshall and Worthington.

MARSHALL — The Minnesota Emergency Response and Industrial Training (MERIT) Center will be the site of another community COVID-19 vaccination event this weekend. But organizers say this time the clinic will be more focused on frontline workers, especially people with jobs in food processing plants and agriculture.

This week the state has also been working together with community organizations to help people in area Latinx communities get vaccination appointments, said Edwin Torres, vaccine outreach director at the Minnesota Department of Health.

“We really wanted community members to lead the effort,” Torres said. This week members of Unidos MN have been doing vaccination outreach in the Marshall and Worthington areas. So far, Torres said, they have registered around 370 to 400 people for vaccine appointments.

Gov. Tim Walz announced this week that Minnesota would be expanding its COVID-19 community vaccination program with two one-time vaccination events in Marshall and Worthington. The vaccine clinics will be held this weekend at the MERIT Center in Marshall at the Worthington Event Center.

Torres said organizers anticipate a total of around 2,000 people will be vaccinated between the two sites.

“We need broad community protection before we are able to rein in COVID-19 and get back to the many normal parts of life we have all missed — and the way we get there is by getting as many people vaccinated as possible, as quickly as possible,” Walz said in a news release. “To do that, all Minnesotans should get vaccinated with the first vaccine available to them. These new locations provide even more opportunities for people to get their shot.”

Event organizers emphasized that the upcoming vaccine clinic in Marshall will be targeted specifically at frontline workers like food processing plant employees. Instead of having the general public sign up for vaccination appointments at the clinic, people who have not received a vaccine are being directed to sign up for the Minnesota COVID-19 Vaccine Connector at https://mn.gov/vaccineconnector. The Vaccine Connector will notify eligible users about vaccine opportunities near them, and if they have been selected for an appointment at a Community Vaccination Program location.

Torres said the MDH has been partnering with media and community organizations to reach out to populations in Minnesota who may be at risk for COVID-19. Food plant workers have already been affected by COVID-19 outbreaks, and many of those workers are people of color. For the Marshall and Worthington vaccine events, the MDH partnered with Latinx-based organization Unidos MN to knock on doors, visit mobile home parks and do “a very boots-on-the-ground effort” to get area residents vaccinated, Torres said.

On Monday night, Unidos MN hosted a Facebook Live event to help get the word out and answer questions about the vaccination program. Torres said the stream drew more than 1,000 viewers.

As outreach workers talk with area residents, they’re learning that people want the COVID vaccine, Torres said. For many Latinx residents, “The biggest concern is the process,” he said. For example, people have questions about how to sign up for a vaccine and where to go, as well as concerns about whether their information would be protected, or what would happen if an undocumented person tried to get vaccinated.

Torres said the MDH has direction from the governor that Minnesota will be vaccinating all residents.

MERIT Center Coordinator Jasmine DeSmet said Wednesday that preparations were already underway for the vaccine clinic. In order to allow for plenty of open space, the clinic will be held in the main vehicle bay at the MERIT Center. She said Marshall city staff have assisted in finding temporary storage for vehicles and training equipment usually kept in the bay.

DeSmet said the bay will be converted into multiple “lanes” where people will be able to come through and be vaccinated.

“The flow is really good, because we can use the whole facility,” she said. Additional space in the classroom areas of the MERIT Center can also be used for supplies and as clinic staff areas.

The MERIT Center has already been the site of one earlier COVID vaccine clinic, held by Southwest Health and Human Services, DeSmet said.

DeSmet and Marshall City Administrator Sharon Hanson said ongoing COVID-19 vaccinations are signs of hope that Marshall’s residents and economy will be returning to normal.

“It’s rewarding to see people coming through the doors again,” DeSmet said of the MERIT Center.

“We know the vaccine reduces hospitalizations and deaths,” Hanson said. Having more people vaccinated, especially in key industries, will help the area economy open back up. “This is a critical step to getting us somewhat back to normal.”