Isabella, Gratiot, Clare up to 28K vaccinations

Region reports nine new virus cases, no deaths on Friday

A little more than 28,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered across Isabella, Gratiot and Clare counties as of Wednesday.

State records show that 16,320 doses were administered in Isabella County, 7,700 in Gratiot County and 4,000 in Clare County for a total of 28,020 doses.

In Isabella County, 12,700 of those doses are the Moderna vaccine and 3,120 are Pfizer. Both are two-shot vaccines and the records don’t specify how many of those doses were second-shot doses to complete the vaccination. Another 500 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered.

That vaccine was authorized for use by the Food and Drug Administration just this week.

In Gratiot County, 7,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine have been administered and 500 of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Gratiot hasn’t received any Pfizer vaccine, according to state records.

In Clare County, 3,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered. No Pfizer doses have been administered.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are built around a relatively new vaccine technology, that uses a single strand of RNA code that lets the immune system recognize the spike used by the SARS-COV-2 virus to attach to a human cell to begin replicating itself.

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is built using a strand of DNA code and a weakened adenovirus. It is a more traditional kind of vaccine.

All three are considered safe.

Nine new confirmed cases and no new deaths were reported in those three counties.

Eight of those cases were in Isabella County, bringing its cumulative total to 3,593 cases, with 72 deaths. The one other new confirmed cases was reported in Gratiot County, bringing its cumulative total to 2,470, with 99 deaths.

Clare County’s cumulative total number of confirmed cases decreased by one to 1,410, with 68 deaths. A decrease in cases is usually a sign of a false positive test result. Fewer than 1 percent of positive tests result in a false positive.

Elsewhere in mid-michigan, no new deaths were reported, with new and cumulative cases and deaths as follows:

• In Gladwin County, an additional six confirmed cases were reported for a cumulative total of 1,265, with 40 deaths;

• In Mecosta County, an additional three cases were reported for a cumulative total of 1,936, with 19 deaths;

• In Midland County, an additional 17 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 4,475, with 62 deaths; and,

• In Montcalm County, an additional three cases were reported for a cumulative total of 3,268, with 86 deaths.

Statewide, another 10 deaths were reported for a total of 15,610 and another 1,486 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 594,765.