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Minnesota Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar joined a local physician and health care administrator on Sunday in the Twin Cities to urge people to accept the science behind COVID-19 vaccines.

Klobuchar said that as more people become eligible for vaccination against the coronavirus, a big challenge will be convincing them to get the protection to help bring the pandemic under control.

She said social media companies, including Facebook, need to do a better job combating falsehoods being circulated to scare people away from the vaccines.

“One of the things that is really holding us back in our country, not just our state, is a lot of people are refusing to get the vaccine — and that’s their right, but they need to know that a lot of this is based on misinformation,” Klobuchar said.

“These vaccines are safe. You should follow medical advice by looking on the websites for the CDC, on the Allina website, any reputable medical organization, the state of Minnesota — to get the facts not only about distribution but also about what’s happening about misinformation about the vaccine,” she said.

Klobuchar said a provision in the latest pandemic relief package would funnel $1 billion to broadly help fight misinformation, including about health care.

South-central Minnesota

Freeborn County reported two new lab-confirmed cases on Monday, increasing its cumulative cases to 2,757. Of the total, 44 are considered active cases.

There were no new hospitalizations or new deaths Monday. The county’s death total from the pandemic stands at 23.

The new cases were people in their 60s and 70s.

The following is an update on other area counties:

• Faribault County: two new cases; 1,211 total cases
• Mower County: five new cases; 3,990 total cases
• Steele County: three new cases; 2,968 total cases
• Waseca County: three new case; 2,060 total cases

Minnesota reported one more death — none in south-central Minnesota — caused by COVID-19 on Monday, along with 561 new cases.