DETROIT – According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State of Michigan ranks number 44 in terms of the percent of residents who have received the vaccine.
That number is shockingly low at 0.9 percent. Officials say 337,475 doses have been distributed statewide, while only 90,453 shots have been given.
That means the state has only used 28 percent of the doses released. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services sent Local 4 News a statement on why the numbers are so low.
“This is the most massive vaccination effort ever undertaken in the country, and every state is grappling with vaccine distribution going slower than needed to end this pandemic as quickly as possible. Launching mass vaccinations over the December holiday season created delays with some individuals intentionally delaying vaccines for themselves until after the holidays and clinics not being operational due to the holidays. Although it was appropriate to start vaccinations as soon as the vaccine was available, it has caused rollout to be slower. Vaccine is being delivered daily to hospitals and local health departments across the state and MDHHS is working with these entities to support their operational plans and provide additional staffing support to increase the speed at which the vaccines are being administered. As more is understood about operations and clinic flow, we expect the time from receipt to administration to decrease. Last week, MDHHS informed all entities receiving vaccine that they should aim to administer 90% of it within seven days of receipt. We have also clarified the broad categories of health care workers that should be getting vaccinated, as well as the expectation that hospitals support vaccination of phase 1A workers that may not be their own employees. We will continue to evaluate our overall strategy to increase vaccination numbers in Michigan,” the MDHHS statement read.
As the pandemic continues the MDHHS is aiming to boost its numbers.
The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 502,119 over the past two days, including 12,678 deaths, state officials report.
Monday’s update includes 4,992 new cases and 80 additional deaths. On Saturday, the state reported a total of 497,127 cases and 12,598 deaths.
New COVID-19 cases are slowing but deaths remain high in Michigan. Testing has slowed during the holiday, with more than 35,000 diagnostic tests reported per day, with the positive rate increasing to about 9% over the last few days. Hospitalizations have slowly decreased but remain relatively high, including in critical care and ventilator use.