DETROIT – Michigan will move into the next phase of vaccinations Monday, which includes teachers, first responders, childcare providers and residents 65 years of age and older.
Eligible essential workers, teachers and childcare workers will be notified by their employers about vaccine clinic dates and locations, Gov. Whitmer said. Eligible residents should not go to any of the clinics without an appointment.
Residents might not be able to get an appointment right away and availability is different depending on region.
Michigan Medicine announced it will pause phase 1B vaccinations due to a lower-than-expected supply. U of M will make sure there are enough vaccines for people from the first phase to get their second dose.
The new phase is a turning point in the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are still major problems and struggles to meet demand.
As eligibility has increased, so has demand. There were so many attempts to get the first dose of the vaccine, that the state’s largest hospital system -- Beaumont Health -- had a full system crash.
As the pool of those who are able to be vaccinated grows, the supply has remained far short of expected.
Macomb County executive Mark Hackel criticized the Governor and said the county is capable of handling 50,000 vaccines a week but have only been receiving 1,000.
“I’m just going to say this, the governor over promised something that health departments around the state cannot deliver,” Hackel said.
Whitmer said the state has been getting 60,000 vaccines from Pfizer each week and they have been consistently shipped out. She repeated her call for more help from the federal government Friday.
“We still need a national strategy. I have been saying for months, whether it was around getting masks, the beginning, or getting testing or an economic recovery, or relief -- now vaccines,” Whitmer said. “There still is not a national strategy.”
Because supply of the vaccine is limited, residents are required to get an appointment. More information on how to set up an appointment can be found here.