MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz and state health officials say the first Minnesotans who will get the new coronavirus vaccine in the initial wave could get their shots as early as Christmas week.

Minnesota is poised to get 46,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week, followed by 136,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine in the two weeks after that. That totals 183,400 within the first month.

The state’s infectious disease director, Kris Ehresmann, says it could be “an early Christmas present.” Minnesota will follow federal guidance directing the first doses to health care personnel and long-term care facility residents.

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