Shots for all by late April

Good morning, Minnesota! Here are top news headlines to start your Wednesday with:

It's time for a March reality check: A wintry mix with cooler temps today. Precipitation will remain rain for southern Minnesota while it brings some snow for the northern half, up to 6 inches far up north. Highs will range from the mid-30s to the lower 50s across the state. Follow the latest from Updraft.

Any Minnesota adult may be able to get a COVID-19 shot by late next month.

Today is the first day the newly eligible group start to get COVID-19 shots. Minnesota's latest vaccination plan, announced yesterday, includes 1.8 million more Minnesotans -- people with certain underlying health conditions, those who work high-risk jobs and people over age 50 who live in three-plus generational households.

The state is likely to hit its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of older Minnesotans today, and with the current pace, officials are optimistic that they could open up the vaccination window to any Minnesota adult by late April.

Don't panic over the case and deaths spikes in the latest data. It's due to report errors from months ago.

Tuesday's COVID numbers from state health officials seem quite striking, but the actual story is less dramatic. Four private testing labs apparently failed to report 37,350 test results that included 891 positive cases over a period of months, which also included 138 COVID-related deaths that had been linked to the disease until a recent Health Department audit. If you remove the backlogged data from Tuesday's data, Minnesota's COVID numbers remain pretty much flat, our data reporter David Montgomery reports.

Here are Minnesota’s latest COVID-19 statistics:

After a long, slow day of questions, three jurors are seated for the trial of Derek Chauvin; and more to come on a second day of jury selection today.

After striking six potential jurors from the pool, the court picked up two men and one woman to serve on the jury in the trial. Attorneys on both sides will continue winnowing a large pool of potential jurors today to select a final panel of 12, plus two alternates.

Watch the proceedings live on MPRNews.org or via our Facebook page here.

Day 2 recap of Chauvin trial: Black Lives Matter, fear for potential retaliation, questions around defense attorneys' racial bias among top issues discussed Tuesday.

During jury selection yesterday, attorneys quizzed jurors about their knowledge of George Floyd’s killing, as well as their opinions on movements like Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter. Meanwhile, prosecutors raised questions of bias on the part of defense attorneys, given that they had dismissed two jurors self-identified as Hispanic. Other would-be jurors were released after saying they feared retaliation for their involvement with the case.

The House is expected to give final congressional approval to the COVID-19 aid package amid GOP opposition today.

A dominant feature of the bill is initiatives making it one of the biggest federal thrusts in years to assist lower- and middle-income families. Included are expanded tax credits over the next year for children, child care and family leave plus spending for renters, feeding programs and people's utility bills.

— Jiwon Choi, MPR News | Find me on Twitter @ChoiGEE1