State: Michigan COVID-19 deaths drop again; high vaccine demand going unmet

New confirmed coronavirus cases remained stable but deaths fell below 30 as more and more people make appointments for the two-shot vaccine and wait for more of the vaccine to be shipped to the state.

“We are glad to see so many people interested in being vaccinated, but the biggest obstacle faced by local health departments in Michigan right now is the limited availability of the vaccine,” said Nick Derusha, president of the Michigan Association for Public Health (MALPH).

“Local health departments have a great deal of experience coordinating community part

ners to vaccinate large numbers of people,” Derusha said. “However, in this case, planning efforts are hindered because of the limited information available about how much vaccine will arrive each week.”

Derusha said vaccine appointments fill up almost as soon as they are made available, causing frustration for eligible community members as they await the release of the next group of appointment slots. Local health departments and their partners are only able to schedule as many appointments as they have vaccine doses and then they have to wait for the next shipment to arrive. Often, they don’t know how many doses will arrive the following week.

The MALPH estimates there are 1.7 million Michigan residents age 65 and older, and another 1.5 million workers currently eligible to receive the vaccine.

But the state website indicates just 831,150 doses have been distributed around the state and 368,844 doses have been administered.

The federal health agency has agreed to release more doses of the vaccine to states, and the goal of President-elect Joe Biden is to vaccine 100 million people in 100 days.

In Michigan, cases and deaths have improved somewhat but people are still eager to get a vaccine after 10 months of the pandemic.

Michigan reported 29 new deaths and 2,598 cases of the virus Friday, bringing the state’s total to 533,602 cases and 13,701 deaths since mid March of last year.

In southeast Michigan, there were 305 cases and four deaths in Oakland County, 324 cases and two deaths in Wayne County, 199 cases and three deaths in Macomb County, and 169 cases and two deaths in Detroit.

Elsewhere in Michigan, there were 167 cases and three deaths in Kent County, 69 cases and two deaths in Ingham County, and 94 cases and five deaths in Genesee County.