The goal in Michigan is to vaccinate 70% of residents -- or 5.7 million people -- against COVID-19. | Clinica Sierra Vista
The goal in Michigan is to vaccinate 70% of residents -- or 5.7 million people -- against COVID-19. | Clinica Sierra Vista
In only a few weeks, Michigan has gone from ranking 45th to 20th in the rate at which the state is getting residents vaccinated for COVID-19, but it still faces issues in meeting its goal of vaccinating 70% of the population statewide.
According to Bridge Michigan, 1.5 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been delivered to Michigan, but only 802,000 residents received inoculations so far.
Of those given, 659,000 people have received their first dose and 143,000 have received a second dose of the vaccine, Bridge Michigan reported. This calculates to approximately 6,500 per 100,000 people statewide.
Despite this improvement, many officials in the state want to see more vaccinations done at a quicker pace.
“That’s been the incredible challenge: the demand does not meet the availability of the supply right now,” Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel told Bridge Michigan.
President Joe Biden's administration's announcement of a 16% increase in doses for each state this week would add between 30,000 and 40,000 more doses in Michigan alone.
Despite increasing vaccination shipments and county officials pushing for people to get vaccinated, some issues are standing in the way of meeting Michigan's goal. One of these issues is that the African-American and Hispanic communities are reluctant to be vaccinated, Bridge Michigan said.
Another issue Michigan is seeing is lack of technology. In cities like Flint and Detroit, up to 40% of residents do not have an internet connection, and for communities offering appointment sign-ups online, this leaves those without internet access unable to make an appointment.
"In many places — and we've seen it in cities all across the country — people only had one way to find out, and that was online. Of course, we know we have a big digital divide,” Debra Furr-Holden, a professor of public health at Michigan State University, told Bridge Michigan.
Currently, Michigan's approach to distributing the COVID-19 vaccination is by distributing more doses to communities that have a higher population of those vulnerable to infection. State health spokesperson Lynn Sutfin said Michigan continues to follow the CDC's protection guidelines to help residents in these communities.
“These prioritizations may change as more information on vaccine effectiveness and additional vaccination products become available,” Sutfin said, according to Bridge Michigan.
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