Health

What's holding up Michigan's vaccine rollout? New report offers clues

January 15, 2021, 2:17 PM

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The rate at which Michigan is administering Covid vaccines, while improving, remains among the bottom half of states — 20th-worst, to be exact — with just 368,844 doses of 831,150 delivered.

Investigative reporting by Crain's comes close to pinpointing the reason for the hold up. Columnist Jay Greene writes:

We believe part of the answer lies with the 300,000 doses sitting in deep freezers owned by CVS and Walgreens.

The pharmacy companies have a plan to dose people at the nursing homes and assisted living centers, and they will eventually give out those doses, but I believe some of those doses can be put to better use right now. Moderna can ship out more doses next month.

In addition, tens of thousands of doses are most likely waiting at large health systems that are scheduling appointments out for the next week. Hospitals, in fact, tell Crain's they will run out of doses next week unless they get a major infusion of vaccines.

Another fraction could be at smaller hospitals that don't have the staff to vaccinate the thousand or so doses they were shipped.

But that does not account for where another 200,000-plus doses are. We don't know and the state hasn't been able to answer our questions about where they are.

The business publication's ongoing look into the issue earlier this week revealed that at the current pace of vaccinations, it would take the state two years to achieve herd immunity. By then, of course, the virus may have mutated so significantly it could require a new vaccine.


Read more:  Crain's Detroit Business


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