Most large employers have an employee assistance program, but the Henry Ford Health System has taken it one step further.

Once a COVID-19 vaccine is approved, Henry Ford says it is prepared to receive and store the vaccine -- which requires storage at extremely low temperatures. So far, Henry Ford has begun installing 12 freezers: six that can appropriately store the Pfizer vaccine, and six that can appropriately store the Moderna vaccine. Henry Ford hospitals in Wyandotte, Macomb, West Bloomfield and Jackson will each have one of each type of freezer. Pfizer formally requested an emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine on Nov. 20. Details about where the COVID-19 vaccine will first be shipped to in Michigan are still being finalized.

DETROIT – News that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is nearly 95 percent effective has given hope that the pandemic will end sooner. And Henry Ford Hospital enrolled a vast number of minority volunteers. “What we’re seeing in all these vaccine trials is that we see good immune responses to the vaccination,” said Dr. Paul Kilgore, Henry Ford co-principal investigator in the vaccine trial. Our COVID-19 Data section tracks many of the key data points health officials are watching closely every single day. Track key COVID-19 data points in Michigan: