(WXYZ & ASSOCIATED PRESS) – Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Monday during a press conference of the White House COVID response team that the answer to the rise in Michigan case is not necessarily to put in more vaccinations for the state, but rather to flatten the curve by shutting things down.
“If vaccines are put into use today, we’re not going to see any effect from those vaccines … anywhere from two to six weeks. If you have an acute situation, an extraordinary number of cases, like we have in Michigan, it’s answer not necessary: give vaccine, in fact we know the vaccine will have a delayed response, ”she said Monday. “ The answer to that is to really shut things down, go back to our base, go back to where we were last spring, last summer and shut things down, flatten the curve, the contact with each other. To reduce, test, where we have available, to contact trace … what we really need to do in those situations is shut things down. “
She added, “I think if we were to try to work our way out of what is happening in Michigan, we would be disappointed that it took so long for the vaccine to take effect.”
Washington will instead rush federal funds to support vaccinations, testing, and treatments to Michigan in an effort to contain the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the state.
Last week, Governor Gretchen Whitmer highly recommended, but did not order, a two-week break for high school personal education, restaurant dining, and youth sports. She cited more contagious variants of the coronavirus and pandemic fatigue as factors in the rise, causing some hospitals to delay non-emergency procedures.
Statewide hospital admissions have quadrupled in a month, approaching the peak levels of last spring and fall.
“Policy alone will not turn the tide. We need everyone to act and take personal responsibility, ”Whitmer said Friday, without ruling out future restrictions. The seven-day rate in Michigan was 506 per 100,000 people, well above the second-worst New Jersey, with 314 per 100,000 residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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