DETROIT – Michigan officials are tracking coronavirus outbreaks in schools across the state.
New COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported in schools. Cases in schools are considered an outbreak when there are three or more of them among kids from different households that may have stemmed from shared exposure on school grounds.
Read: Tracking COVID outbreaks in Michigan schools, colleges
The percentage of Detroit residents who are fully vaccinated has not been rising. According to the state dashboard, just 37.7% of Detroit residents age 12 and older are fully vaccinated. That’s compared to 65.2% of Wayne County residents, excluding Detroit.
Those numbers have attracted the attention of the federal government. Part of the White House COVID-19 Response Team visited Detroit to speak with residents who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID.
Local 4 spoke with Dr. Cameron Webb, the senior adviser for equity on that team to find out what he learned during his time in Detroit.
“I did hear just how confusing and conflicting the misinformation was. You know, they would say that they heard something from a friend, or family member months ago and when you get a lot of conflicting health information, it can be kind of paralyzing,” Webb said.
Webb said it takes a lot of work to clear up that confusion.
“What we always say is that misinformation is sticky. It sounds scary and it sticks with you and we can hit you with the truth 10 times over, but it doesn’t necessarily overcome that thing that you were scared of,” Webb said.
He said the White House supports the ongoing local efforts to get more Detroit residents vaccinated. Webb hopes that approaching holidays will push more people to get vaccinated to help protect themselves and their loved ones.
Read: Complete Michigan COVID coverage
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