EXPANDING ELIGIBILITY
Residents age 50 and over qualify for COVID-19 vaccine in coming weeks
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) will soon expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include residents 50 and older with underlying health conditions.
On Wednesday, the state received its first 82,700 doses of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine putting Michigan’s weekly vaccine allocation over 500,000 doses, a new high mark according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. In addition
to the J&J doses, Michigan received this week 423,380 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine of which 211,690 are first doses.
On March 8, the state’s COVID-19 vaccine providers will begin administering to Michiganders 50 and over with un
lying conditions along with caregiver family members and guardians who care for children with special care needs. with vaccine supply coming in as scheduled from the federal government. On March 22, two weeks after, vaccine eligibility will be expanded to include all residents age 50 and older.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed the expanded eligibility Wednesday morning. To date, more than 40% of Michiganders age 65 and older have been vaccinated.
“Today, MDHHS will be putting out guidance that people age 50 and over who have a disability and medical frailty are going to be able to get the vaccine starting March 8,” she said. “Two weeks later, it will be everyone 50 and up. For the next two weeks, because we have an historic number of vaccines coming into the state, we want to be able to expand this and we are in a position to do that.”
Around 13% of Michigan adults age 50 to 64 have already received at least one vaccine dose due to them being included in other eligibility groups as outlined by MDHHS. For age groups 65-74 and 75+, those first dose population percentages stand at 19.8 and 24.5 respectively.
To date, the state has received over 3 million vaccine doses having administered over 2.3 million of those doses. Around 1.5 million Michiganders have received at least their first dose with around 834,000 receiving their second dose. Around 18% of the state’s adult population has received at least a first vaccine dose, according to MDHHS data.
Right now, state vaccine providers, including health departments, hospitals, pharmacies, Meijer, and federally-qualified community health centers are administering vaccines to eligible residents in Phases 1A, 1B, and 1C in accordance with the MDHHS vaccine prioritization guidance.
The MDHHS vaccine prioritization guidance will continue to add new eligibility groups as the state’s overall vaccine supply increases. On Monday, MDHHS added frontline food and agricultural workers to the guidance.
Although the state’s vaccine supply is increasing, there remains a limited amount of vaccine available, so there may be a waitlist for available appointments. As more vaccine becomes available, the state will continue to move more quickly through the priority groups.
In January, the state released a COVID-19 vaccination strategy to help ensure all Michiganders have equitable access to vaccines.
Residents are being urged to sign up on as many vaccine appointment waitlists as possible including through local health departments, pharmacies, and health systems. At this time, there are no walk-up vaccines being administrated with all requiring an appointment. More information about local vaccine availability can also be found at: https:// www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-40698178_103214—-,00.html.
For residents that don’t have access to the internet or who need assistance navigating the vaccine scheduling process can call the COVID-19 Hotline at 888-535-6136 (press 1), Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. or can call 2-1-1.
This week, the Oakland County Health Division is continuing to administer first and second dose vaccines at their drive-thru sites across the county and at seven long-term care clinics. The county schedules weekly vaccine appointments by contacting people that registered on the county’s Save Your Spot List. Eligibility and timestamp of registration are used to determine who gets an appointment any given week.
The health division received 7,400 initial doses of the J&J vaccine, 700 more than expected on Wednesday putting the county’s weekly vaccine allocation over 20,000. The county is
working with its four vaccine providers to administer up to 20,000 doses per week, a goal that has been hindered by the limited vaccine supply, which is expected to increase.
“With the news that Merck is going to be joining with Johnson & Johnson to manufacture this one dose vaccine, this increased supply of vaccine will help accelerate the end to the pandemic,” said Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter. “We are making steady progress in vaccinating Oakland County residents with nearly one in five having received their first dose.”
The J&J vaccine is a single-dose vaccine for people age 18 and over that can be transported and stored at standard refrigerator temperatures (36-46°F), which makes it easier to manufacture than the Pfizer and Moderna two-dose vaccines. The vaccine was 66% effective during a Phase 3 clinical trial at preventing moderate to severe disease and granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday.
President Biden said Tuesday that there will be enough vaccine supply to vaccinate every American adult by the end of May. He cited his administration’s “stepped up process” to accelerate vaccine production and distribution by signing the Defense Production Act. He also announced that J&J competitor, Merck, will help with ramping up production of the J&J vaccines.
The president also called on every state to prioritize the vaccination of preK-12 educators, school staff, and childcare workers, adding, “schools can reopen if the right steps are taken even before employees are vaccinated.”
He’s challenging every state to have all its preK12 educators, school staff members, and child care workers receive at least one vaccine dose by the end of March. To help with that effort, beginning next week, the federal government’s COVID-19 Retail Pharmacy Partnership Program will be used to prioritize this group through the month of March.