Michigan Has Administered 6th Fewest COVID-19 Vaccine Doses: CDC

MICHIGAN — Michigan is in the bottom six states in the U.S. in terms of administering doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to data released this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Michigan has received 478,800 total doses of COVID-19 vaccines since Dec. 13, according to the CDC. However, officials say that the first dose of the vaccine has been received by only 99,040 people or 992 per 100,000 residents as of Tuesday, according to the CDC.

According to data provided by the CDC, only Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas and Mississippi have administered fewer doses per 100,000 people.

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Bob Wheaton, a spokesperson with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said that vaccine distribution could have been delayed due to the December holiday season and because some people have delayed getting vaccinated until after the holiday stretch.

"This is the most massive vaccination effort ever undertaken in the country, and every state is grappling with vaccine distribution going slower than needed to end this pandemic as quickly as possible," Wheaton said in an email to Patch. "Although it was appropriate to start vaccinations as soon as the vaccine was available, (the holiday) has caused rollout to be slower."

Michigan in December announced its plan for how it would distribute the two COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna. Health officials in Michigan said the state is following the CDC recommendations for prioritization of distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines.

Michigan health officials have set a goal of vaccinating 70 percent of Michiganders 18 years of age or older, about 5.4 million adults, by the end of 2021.

Read More: Michigan Creates Coronavirus Vaccine Commission

The plan involves a multi-phase approach that includes administering the vaccine to unpaid people serving in health care settings who have direct or indirect exposure to patients or infectious materials and are unable to work from home, as well as residents of long-term care facilities.

Some workers in essential and critical industries, including workers with unique skill sets such as non-hospital or non-public health laboratories and mortuary services will be included in the second phase of distribution.

A third phase includes people at high risk for severe COVID-19 illness due to underlying medical conditions, and people 65 years and older, the state said before a mass vaccination campaign for all adults.

Read More: 300 Michigan National Guardsmen Receive COVID-19 Vaccine

Wheaton said Tuesday that the vaccine is being delivered to hospitals and health departments across the state daily, and the state is working with each entity to provide assistance and staffing support to help administer the vaccines.

The state told all hospitals and health departments last week that they should aim at administering at least 90 percent of the vaccines they have received within seven days of receipt.

"As more is understood about operations and clinic flow, we expect the time from receipt to administration to decrease," he said.

As of Tuesday morning, Michigan has reported 504,410 coronavirus cases and 12,867 COVID-19 deaths, according to state health officials. As of Thursday, 363,611 people in Michigan have recovered from the coronavirus, according to state health officials.