STATE 15% of target population vaccinated

Despite the slow rollout of coronavirus vaccines, the has managed to vaccinate 15.7% of the state’s target population through its network of health providers

The state’s goal is to vaccinate 70 percent of the slightly more than eight million residents age 16 and older.

Through Wednesday, health providers had given 1,994,310 shots to people to protect them against the deadly virus, including 268,405 in Oakland County, 153,360 in Macomb County, 206,250 in Wayne County, and 64,928 in Detroit.

Southeast Michigan, the most populous region of the state, has been the epicenter of the pandemic that began nearly a year ago.

However, vaccine coverage has been higher in more rural areas of the state and why case and death numbers have fallen more dramatically in those areas.

In mid Michigan, for example, there were three new cases reported Thursday in Clare County, three cases in Gratiot County, and two cases in Isabella County, and no deaths in either of the three counties.

For the day, the state reported 1,388 new cases of the virus statewide and 48 deaths. However, 30 of the deaths were updates based on state review of vital records.

In all, the state has confirmed 585,352 cases of the virus in Michigan and 15,453 people have died from it. As they have throughout the pandemic, cases and deaths continue to be higher in the populated areas of the state.

There were 168 new cases and six deaths reported in Wayne County Thursday, 145 cases and seven deaths in Oakland County, 121 cases and seven deaths in Macomb County, and 62 cases and one death in Detroit.

In other areas of the state, there were 64 cases and two deaths in Genesee County, 96 cases and six deaths in Kent County, 20 cases and two deaths in Lenawee County, and 37 cases and one death in Saginaw.

Of Michigan’s 83 counties, 13 counties reported no new cases or deaths.