South Michigan News

The state of Michigan has set a goal of vaccinating approximately 5.4 million residents by the end of 2021, but a number of issues must be resolved, including which group will be next to receive the vaccine.

The first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine have arrived in the state, with frontline medical workers and first responders first up to be treated. Following that group will be elderly residents of long-term care facilities, which have accounted for one-third of the COVID-19 pandemic fatalities in the state, Bridge Michigan reported.

The next group will include those also in the health care field on the front lines, such as dentists, pharmacists and outpatient workers.

First the state will have to meet demand, and that includes the infrastructure that delivers the vaccine. Michigan was approved for 84,000 doses the week of Dec. 11 but only received 60,000. That number would only serve 30,000 of the 300,000 medical workers, due to the need for every individual to take two doses, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Pfizer said it has another 1 million doses in storage as it waits for instructions on where to send it. Additional help is on the way, as Moderna has also been approved and plans to ship 6 million doses across the U.S. this month, reported by the Detroit Free Press.

“We have been planning for this for months,” said Mary Wisinski, immunization program supervisor for the Kent County Health Department, according to the Detroit Free Press. “You make multiple plans and try to anticipate every contingency, and that’s kind of where we are right now.”

Potentially by early 2021, vaccinations will be extended to teachers, day care workers, transportation employees, those working in correctional facilities and employees of funeral homes, according to the Detroit Free Press.

As planned by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), the groups vaccinated are expected to overlap. “It is important to note that vaccination in one phase may not be complete before vaccination in another phase begins. There may be vaccination of individuals in different phases that occurs simultaneously,” MDHHS said in an update, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The last phase before the vaccine is released to the general public would include those with underlying health conditions who are more susceptible to the virus. Outreach initiatives have begun in different parts of the state to ensure lower-income and minority residents are treated. Initiatives are also touting the safety of the vaccine, as there is suspicion about its safety for some Michigan residents.

“We should make sure we get this to every corner of our community, and of course the corners of our community have suffered more from the virus itself,” Jeffrey Byrnes, a Grand Valley State University philosophy professor and medical ethicist, told the Detroit Free Press.