Readers suggest likely reasons for Michigan's Covid shots gender gap

(Graphic: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services)

Several factors may explain a strong dominance of women among Michigan's early Covid vaccine recipients.

Coverage Monday of state data showing the notable gender gap generates reader ideas about why nearly twice as many women are vaccinated in the first five weeks. These are the main beliefs:

► More women work in healthcare, longterm care facilities and education, jobs given priority access. (The Census Bureau says 76% of full-time, year-round health workers are female.)

► Women outnumber men 7 to 1 as nursing home and assisted living residents.

► More women than men are over 65, though not by a proportion as large as the vaccination gap so far.

► Women tend to take better care of their health, generally.

"My wife got it because she works at the hospital," responds a reader named Jason, "and I didn't because I don't."

"I'd expect more females than males got the shot, but not as high as a 2:1 ratio," posts another Redditor. "Something's up." another comment there.

We value the discussions at two Reddit groups (here and here) as examples of the two-way street where readers join us in sharing informatrion and knowledge.

Original article, Monday evening:

Here's an unexplained oddity as Michigan's pandemic vaccinations reach week six: Almost twice as many women as men have received at least one shot.

We won't speculate why state data shows that of 487,959 Covid vaccinations through Sunday, 65.7 percent went to women and 34.3% went to men. (Gender data for 292 recipients wasn't recorded.)

► Update: A reader named Randy floats a reasonable guess on Reddit: "Is it because more women work in healthcare?"

Metro Detroiters in the tricounty area have received 160,717 vaccinations, including second doses. That's one-third of the statewide total so far.

(Photo: Wayne State University)

Monday afternoon's latest figures at the health departrment's Covid-19 Vaccine Dashboard also show that 1,049,575 doses have been shipped or delivered to the state since Dec. 14 under a federal program called Operation Warp Speed. More than 46% of those Pfizer and Moderna vaccines went into residents' arms as of Sunday.

In addition to a gender breakdown, Lansing statisticians -- some of whom worked on Monday's government holiday -- show recipients by eight age categories. The smallest is for ages 16-19, who account for just 965 shots so far.