Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan took a distressed tone at his Wednesday Covid-19 briefing, pleading with unvaccinated residents to get the free shot as soon as possible.
Drive-through service for a lifesaving shot. (Photo: Nancy Derringer)
Sky-high rates of cases in Michigan's Thumb region are "spreading toward us" and "leaving our neighbors vulnerable in a terrible way" because the city's vaccination rate remains low. (It's at 24.7% of residents 16 and older.) In fact, Duggan said, the city is discussing possibly offering incentives to get reluctant Detroiters to vaccination sites.
Duggan on Wednesday laid out the city's plan to ramp up vaccination awareness in Detroit with community forums, a door-knocking campaign and virtual tools to locate the closest of 24 citywide vaccine sites as vaccinations lag surrounding counties and the positivity rate has soared to nearly 21% from just 3.5% in late March.
Detroit's Chief Public Health Officer Denise Fair noted about 700 more people are testing positive for COVID-19 each day.
... The mayor said companies are offering to pair giveaways with vaccination days in Detroit and a research team is currently looking at how that's being done in other cities.
"At the moment, I think there is a 50/50 division on Denise Fair's team as to whether to do it, but we'll be making a decision one way or another on that next week," he said. "I appreciate the generosity of a number of companies who have come forward and said 'If you want us to do giveaways and incentivize, we'll be willing to do that.' We're just trying to figure out if that would be helpful or not."
There was no word on what those incentives might be.
Currently, 419 people are hospitalized with Covid in Detroit, 125 of them in intensive care and 79 on ventilators, the paper reports.
Duggan's Twitter echoed his briefing message:
In comparison with surrounding counties and suburbs, Detroit’s vaccine rate is extremely low.
— Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) April 14, 2021
Our hospitals are soaring with Covid-19 patients. With Covid-19 vaccines more accessible than ever, I’m urging Detroiters to get vaccinated as soon as possible. #mayorsbriefing pic.twitter.com/nuo79jUk5h
The city's main vaccination sites, at the TCF Center, Ford Field and Northwest Activities Center, as well as various pop-ups, still have capacity to handle many more shot-seekers. Call (313) 230-0505 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to make an appointment. Many private pharmacies also offer free shots.
