MASS VACCINATION SITE COMING TO CITY
County will use soccer complex to vaccinate up to 5,000 people per day
Oakland County has partnered with United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) to utilize its recently-acquired Pontiac soccer complex to administer up to 5,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses per day.
In November, UWM purchased the 15.8-acre, 378,400-square-foot Ultimate Soccer Arena, now called the UWM Sports Complex, located at 867 South Blvd. East, in Pontiac for $23.3 million after it was listed for sale by its owner. One of the four soccer arenas is being renovated by UWM as a space to train and house 800 employees while the other three arenas will remain intact for community use.
The county will be entering into a contract agreement with UWM to have access to one of the four arenas, which each stretch about 100,000 square-feet, for use as a mass vaccination site rent free. The site is centrally located and in a community that has a large percentage of the county’s most vulnerable residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index.
Thom Hardesty, director of Oakland County Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the site will be used 1-3 times per week depending on the county’s vaccine supply. He said health division staff will administer 1,000 to 3,000 vaccine doses per clinic, but will have the ability to administer up to 5,000 if the county’s vaccine supply allows for that.
“This will have a tremendous positive impact,” he said. “It gives us access in one, central location to be able to vaccinate a significant number of people on a daily basis. This is just a great partnership with UWM. It gives us the ability to put vaccine in arms in a highly populated area of need. The facility is large enough where we can socially distance and vaccinate a high volume of people. United Wholesale Mortgage was kind enough to offer up this site.”
To date, the county health division has received 153,445 vaccine doses with over 121,000 doses having been administered by health division staff. In addition, nearly two out of every three county seniors 65 and older have received at least their first dose with all Mich
igan adults age 16 and older becoming eligible for a vaccine on April 5.
All vaccinations at the UWM site will be by appointment only with the county pulling appointments from its Save Your Spot list, which currently has about 600,000 registrations. To sign up for the Save Your Spot list, go to www.OaklandCountyVaccine.com. The first vaccinations will be administered during the first week in April.
Hardesty said the tentative plan is to utilize the site for vaccinations for 60 to 90 days, but that could
change based on overall community need and the county’s vaccine supply. The company is willing to offer the site for as long as the county sees a need.
Laura Lawson, UWM executive vice president and chief people officer, said UWM reached out to the county about how it could help with the county’s vaccination efforts. She added that the complex’s proximity to M-59 and I-75 makes it very accessible to the region’s residents.
“Our commitment is always doing whatever we can to lift up our community and to be there when needed,” she said. “This was a situation where we proactively were thinking how we could help. The UWM Sports Complex just
became a natural solution for the county’s needs. We wanted the county to know that they could rely on us.
CEO Mat Ishbia said the company is humbled at the opportunity to help the community, adding, “the vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel, and we’re proud to do our part in ensuring community members have easy access to get vaccinated and play a role in protecting themselves and their loved ones.”
According to county documents, the county will incur around $30,000 in onetime costs for tables, chairs, privacy screen, carts, wheel chairs, garbage cans, cords, sharps containers, bins, signs, vests, clipboards, electronic signage, etc. The
county will also cover any unforeseen expenses, but would use its $244 million in American Rescue Plan aid as reimbursement for site supplies and equipment.
In addition to the UWM site, the county will continue to use drive-thru sites, as needed, across the county to perform COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. This includes sites in Holly, Novi, Pontiac, Rochester, Southfield, Waterford, and West Bloomfield.
The county is also continuing to use Novi’s Suburban Collection Showplace, weekly, to administer vaccines. The county’s rent-free contract runs through mid-June.
As the warmer weather
approaches, the county will also transition back to utilizing outdoor tents to conduct COVID-19 tests and to administer vaccines. Bill Mullan, spokesperson for the county executive’s office, said parking capacity will be key in determining which sites are utilized longer.
“The UWM Sports Complex will give Oakland County Health Division the capacity to vaccinate thousands per day and will be accessible to many residents,” said Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter. “Thank you to the United Wholesale Mortgage team for working with our Emergency Management and Homeland Security Department to stand up this vaccination site.”