Detroit mayor: 5K residents a day could get vaccine in 2021

DETROIT » Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said on a Sunday talk show that he expected 5,000 residents a day would receive vaccines once they are made widely available.

He also spoke on CBS’s “Face the Nation” about the logistics of vaccinating some 700,000 city residents, saying convention centers and parking areas near stadiums would play major roles.

“The magnitude of what we’re talking about, this county has never experienced,” the Democrat said.

Hospital workers, first-responders, those over 65 and other groups more at risk of coronavirus infection were expected to be first in line to receive vaccinations, Duggan said.

While there is currently no clear timetable for the distribution of several potential vaccines, Duggan said he expected some to be available to the wider public early in 2021.

At 5,000 vaccinations a day, Duggan said it would still likely take three or four months to complete vaccinations once they start in Detroit.

Michigan has had around 9,000 confirmed deaths and some 350,000 confirmed cases since March.

Since January, when the first infections were reported in the U.S., the nation’s total number of cases has surpassed 13 million. More than 265,000 people have died.