DETROIT – As the state slowly returns to normal, a lot still hangs in the balance for us to reach “herd immunity,” and with so many people out enjoying the nice weather, the hope is that most of the maskless folks out and about are vaccinated.
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“If we don’t get 70% community immunity, who knows! I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to normal and that’s a concern of mine,” said Detroit Chief Public Health Officer, Denise Fair.
Fair has legitimate concerns about the city’s current vaccination rate so far at 35%.
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“I can only encourage. I can’t force. I can’t mandate. But at some point, Detroiters have to make the decision to get vaccinated,” Fair insisted.
With restrictions gearing to soon to be lifted, the mayor has already started to take advantage.
“Well, I’m outside now without a mask because I’ve been vaccinated and I have a 100% confidence in the Pfizer vaccine,” said Mayor Mike Duggan.
Which is fine, as long as you’ve taken the steps to protect yourself and others.
“If you’re fully vaccinated, you can live your life. You can go out and about. You can spend time with your family without your mask,” Fair said.
Herd immunity will finally be reached once the number of vaccinated reaches 70%. Until then, Mayor Duggan will be taking the necessary steps to bring the city back to normal.
“Monday we will get the MIOSHA guidance about reopening offices. Once we have that, we’ll have a plan in place to reopen the city,” Duggan added.
But still, there’s a lot to be done.
“If you are not vaccinated, then you’re not as safe and you’re putting everyone else at risk,” Fair concluded.
Fair says we could be looking at July 1 as the date where things should be back to normal, but that’s with people on the fence making their decision to get the vaccine.