Michigan will enter the new vaccine phase on Monday due to a lagging rollout

DETROIT – Michigan will move to the next phase of vaccinations on Mondayincluding teachers, counselors, childcare providers and residents aged 65 and older.

Eligible key workers, teachers and child carers will be notified by their employers of the dates and locations of the vaccine clinic, Gov. Whitmer said. Eligible residents are not allowed to go to any of the clinics without an appointment.

Residents may not be able to get an appointment right away and availability varies by region.

The new phase is a turning point in the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are still major problems and struggles to meet demand.

As eligibility has increased, so has demand. There were so many attempts to get the first dose of the vaccine that the state’s largest hospital system – Beaumont Health – suffered a complete system crash.

As the pool of those who can be vaccinated grows, the supply has remained far from expected.

Macomb County executive director Mark Hackel criticized the governor, saying the county is able to process 50,000 vaccines a week but only received 1,000.

“I’m just going to say this, the governor has made more than promises that health departments in the state cannot deliver,” Hackel said.

Whitmer said the state gets 60,000 vaccines from Pfizer every week and they are shipped consistently. She repeated her call for more help from the federal government on Friday.

“We still need a national strategy. I’ve been saying for months whether it was getting masks, getting started, or getting tests or an economic recovery, or relief – now vaccines, ”said Whitmer. “There is still no national strategy.”

Because the supply of the vaccine is limited, residents must make an appointment. More information about making an appointment can be found here.

READ: 6 takeaways from Governor Whitmer’s COVID briefing