LANSING, Mich. – Michigan officials said 11,900 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine the state was receiving are ruined and unusable. “That frustrates me when I know we are in a race and every vaccine matters, but that is not something I can control. Twenty-one shipments of the Moderna vaccine were rendered unusable because of temperature issues with the distributor. The distributor, McKesson Corporation, told the state the temperature went out of range and got too cold, affecting nearly 12-thousand doses. However, six additional shipments were also held back to make sure there were no issues with the vaccine.

DETROIT – Since first rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine in mid-December, Wayne County has vaccinated 6,500 people in phases 1A and 1B, which includes health care workers and seniors 65 years of age and older. However, there are still 40,000 to vaccinate, including 20,000 teachers and 5,000 law enforcement personnel. READ: Vaccinations: How to find appointments, info on phases“We’re still at the very beginning stages because of just the sheer volume of people that require that vaccine,” said Dr. Mouhanad Hammami, Wayne County chief health strategist. It also depends on if they can get the doses they need from the state, which so far has been difficult. Right now, if I order 5,000 (doses) this week, I wouldn’t know until early next week if I’m getting the full 5,000 or if I’m getting 1,000 only.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Friday evening, the second vaccine to be authorized in the country. Prior to the authorization, the FDA advisory panel voted 20-0 with one abstention on Thursday to recommend the vaccine. UPDATE: US clears Moderna vaccine for COVID-19, 2nd shot in arsenalDr. A Oveta Fuller, a virologist and viral pathogen researcher at the University of Michigan, voted “No” to recommend the Pfizer vaccine. However, she said she voted “Yes” this time for Moderna. It seemed like their study was set up to meet that at the minimum but it wasn’t set up to do a whole lot else,” Fuller said.

DETROIT – As doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine make their way into the arms of the first recipients, the data the Food and Drug Administration will be using to potentially authorize Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine was made public. For the Moderna study, two doses of their mRNA vaccine were administered 28 days apart, that’s different than the 21 days between doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Twenty-five percent of those enrolled in the Moderna study were older than 65. That’s similar to the 21 percent in the Pfizer vaccine study who were in that age group. The primary question was how effectively the Moderna vaccine could prevent symptomatic COVID-19 infection 14 days after the second dose of the vaccine.

On Monday, Moderna joined Pfizer in submitting its vaccine for an emergency use authorization. But if a vaccine is authorized, will people be willing to get it? “We asked a national sample of older adults, aged 50-60, (about the) future COVID-19 vaccine and what their thoughts were,” U of M Dr. Preeti Malani said. Moderna COVID-19 vaccine moves step closer to public useModerna’s COVID-19 vaccine hit another major milestone, as the company is submitting its application for an emergency use authorization, starting the formal review process and moving a step closer to public use. “This is clearly the most important point prior to making the vaccine broadly available,” Moderna President Dr. Stephen Hoge said.

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.