As people scramble to get the Covid vaccine, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer seeks a federal OK to buy up to 100,000 doses directly from the company to help meet the insatiable demand.
In a letter to federal Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Whitmer writes:
"We remain ready to accelerate distribution to get doses into arms. Toward that end, I am writing to request permission for the State of Michigan to make a one-time purchase of up to 100,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine directly from Pfizer to be distributed and administered consistent with CDC guidelines and the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine.”
Whitmer notes that she and eight other governors have sent a letter to the Trump administration requesting the distribution of millions of doses that are being held back. She writes that they have not gotten a response.
The state reported 4,536 new cases of Covid and 47 deaths for Sunday and Monday. The numbers represent a declines from just a few weeks ago, but they are still alarmingly high.
Related today:
Keep trying, Detroit official says as 'extremely high volumes' jam new Covid shots hotline