Many of you probably have filled out the Minnesota Department of Health’s application on the Vaccine Connector website to get your name on the list to receive the vaccine. I did as well, and frankly the application is absurd.
If you haven’t done it yet and if you want to get your name on the list, here are a few of the questions you’ll need to answer.
The first two are simple and necessary. “What’s your name and address?” I mean, after all, you need to be a Minnesota resident.
Then they get into the meat and potatoes and ask you, “What is your gender?” One would think that would be simple enough. I never thought there would be four choices.
They also want to know your sexual orientation. I was surprised to find out there are six potential answers to choose from — Straight, Gay or Lesbian, Bisexual, No. 5 was “I don’t know” and No. 6, “Something else.” I can’t imagine what would fall into that category.
For some reason the MDH wants to know if you have difficulty dressing or bathing, if you smoke or vape, if you’re obese and, of course, if you have “a physical, mental or emotional condition making it difficult to concentrate, remember or make decisions.”
I am not alone in my thinking here because a bipartisan letter signed by 35 state senators was sent to Governor Walz asking for immediate removal of those invasive and unnecessary questions from the application.
If any potential employer would ask any of those questions of a potential employee, that employer would be sued by the end of business that day.
I don’t mean to oversimplify things here, but maybe name, address, age and occupation would have been enough.