Whenever there’s a big or interesting story across the country or the world there always seems to be a Detroit connection.
This story is about a small European country, a Russian vaccine and a Detroit woman. There’s a small Italian community that needed help getting COVID-19 vaccinations. They turned to Russia and ended up helping a lot of Americans.
Pia Moretti is Italian and she loves to cook. That’s the reason she got a COVID vaccination, so she could cook for her family again. Moretti grew up in Detroit. Her father immigrated to Michigan when she was 4 years old. She moved back to San Marino when she was 31.
San Marino is an Italian community, but an independent republic. They were having trouble getting vaccine doses. So the government called Russia. And within three weeks, the Russian vaccine Sputnik V had arrived. Moretti already got her first dose.
“I was a little bit hesitant. I’ll tell you the truth. But I talked to people. I called the hospital,” Moretti said.
The rest of Europe though is still having a hard time getting doses. And Sputnik V isn’t authorized outside of San Marino. People from all over are calling Italy, France, Germany and even Canada -- people who want the vaccine.
“They’re having a hard time. A really hard time. Thank God we’re in San Marino,” she said.
In San Marino, the population is 33,000. Nearly 10 percent of those living there are American.
“We’re being careful,” Moretti said. “Because it’s the young kids that are getting it.”
The young kids that nonna -- the Italian word for grandma -- said she wants back at her table.
READ: Continuous Michigan COVID coverage