LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan announced Friday that all residents 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 5, almost a month before the promised date of May 1 by President Joe Biden.
People aged 16 to 49 with certain medical conditions or disabilities qualifies from March 22, when 50 to 64 year olds can take photos under an earlier announcement. Two days later, on March 24, a federally selected regional mass vaccination site opens at Ford Field in Detroit to administer an additional 6,000 doses per day for two months.
“The safe COVID-19 vaccine is the most effective way to protect you, your family, and others from the virus,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “It will help the country return to normal and help the economy.”
Michigan was the third state to announce wide eligibility this week. In Alaska, people 16 and older are now eligible. Utah will vaccinate those who are at least 18 years old starting April 1.
The US expects to have adequate adult doses by the end of May, but Biden has warned that the process of actually administering those doses will take time. On Wednesday, about 1.8 million people, 22% of Michigan’s 16-plus population, were fully or partially vaccinated.
Whitmer and state health officials said they were eligible based on the number of vaccines expected and the May 1 guideline that Biden published in his first prime-time address Thursday. According to the state health authority, it may take “several weeks” after April 5 for anyone who wants the vaccine to get an appointment. It said providers should consider a person’s risk of workplace exposure and their vulnerability to serious illness when scheduling appointments.
The Detroit site will be in operation for 12½ hours a day for eight weeks, vaccinating at least 168,000 people with two Pfizer injections, possibly more if a single-dose vaccine is used in the last two weeks. Detroit was selected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which gives priority to vulnerable areas. Instructions for making an appointment will be announced in the coming days.
Kevin Sligh, FEMA acting administrator in the Great Lakes region, said the site will increase vaccination coverage “in an efficient, effective and equitable manner, with an explicit focus on ensuring that local communities at high risk for COVID- 19 exposure and infection is not lagging behind. “
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