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Minnesota joins growing list of states mandating vaccines or tests for state workers

11 August 2021
Dan Ackermann

Minnesota on Wednesday joined a growing list of U.S. states mandating COVID-19 vaccines or testing for state employees in an effort to fight the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant.

What they're saying: "Vaccination is the best way to keep employees and the people we serve safe and ensure the Delta variant does not derail our economic recovery," Gov. Tim Walz (D) said in a statement announcing the mandate.

  • "With this action, we’re joining businesses and colleges across the state who have taken this important step, and I urge other employers to do the same."
  • State agency employees who are not vaccinated will need to test negative for the virus weekly in order to work in the office, Walz said.

Other states that have announced mandates:

  • California has required vaccines or regular testing for state employees, including teachers and other school staff.
  • "We think this is the right thing to do," Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said at a press conference.
  • Washington is instituting a vaccine mandate for most state employees and healthcare workers.
  • "We have a duty to protect them from the virus, they have the right to be protected, and the communities they serve and live in deserve protection as well," Gov. Jay Inslee (D).
  • New York is mandating vaccines or regular testing for state workers starting on Labor Day.
  • "It’s smart, it’s fair and it’s in everyone’s interest," Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said, per the Independent.
  • Illinois is requiring state workers in high-contact settings to get vaccinated by Oct. 4. This would apply to employees who work in state prisons, veterans' homes and care facilities, among others.
  • "We must all take immediate and urgent action to slow the spread of the Delta variant," Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) said, per NBC Chicago. "People are dying who don't have to die."

The big picture: President Biden has also mandated vaccines or regular testing for federal employees and military members.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect Minnesota's testing option for nonvaccinated state workers.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.