MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz and the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced plans for a mass vaccination site at the state fairgrounds in St. Paul next week that will have the capacity to vaccinate 100,000 Minnesotans over eight weeks.

The site will receive 168,000 doses of vaccine from Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson over eight weeks, and will prioritize underserved communities hit hardest by the pandemic.

The announcement comes as cases and hospitalizations across the state have been climbing in recent weeks, driven by a more contagious virus variant first detected in Britain in January.