Michigan ban on indoor dining extended; high schools can open
Michigan’s casinos, movie theaters, bowling alleys and similar venues will be allowed to reopen on Monday, with some restrictions in place, Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer announced Friday.
High schools also will be allowed to resume in-person classes next week, she said.
But indoor dining will remain banned, at least through
Jan. 15.
The changes amount to rolling back some, but not all, restrictions implemented through controversial emergency orders aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. State health department orders
“We have Michigan hospitals and nursing homes ready to administer this vaccine,” Whitmer said. “And the bottleneck appears to be the White House. And I can’t get an answer why.”
Whitmer said she has a call in to Alex Azar, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, but has gotten no response.
“Here’s what I would ask if I could get them on the phone: Where are those doses? What is holding them up? When can we expect them? I’m angry because this virus is raging on in this country. And there is either corruption or ineptitude that is keeping us from saving lives and protecting people.”
Azar’s wife, Jennifer, has tested positive for coronavirus, Politico reported Thursday. He and his children have no symptoms and have tested negative.
Whitmer has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic, at one point joining New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in asking for a congressional investigation. Trump in turn has blasted Whitmer, calling on her to open up sectors of the economy.
Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association, echoed Whitmer’s concerns. In a statement Friday, he called communications issues between Pfizer and federal officials “disappointing and frustrating.”
“Any delay in receipt of vaccine prolongs the vaccination process and puts health care workers at increased risk for contracting this deadly disease. Hospitals need consistent and accurate communication and allocation estimates to ensure quality of care is not interrupted,” Peters said.
An HHS spokesperson told the Free Press in an email Friday afternoon that “there was some confusion” between how many doses were discussed while planning in November
for the distribution of the Pfizer vaccine and what would actually be allocated once shipments began.
“We are working on clearing up any misunderstanding up with the governors and jurisdictions,” the spokesperson said. “Operation Warp Speed allocation numbers locked in with states have not been changed or adjusted.
“Only three official allocations have been provided to states: Week 1 Pfizer allocations were provided Friday, Nov. 20; week 1 Moderna allocations were provided Friday, Nov. 27; and week 2 Pfizer allocations were provided Tuesday, Dec. 15. Those are the only official allocation numbers that have been provided.”
Doses are allocated by population over 18 years old, and “will depend on the amount of vaccine available,” the HHS spokesperson said. “Each week, OWS will let states know how many doses are available to order against for the coming week. Shipments to a jurisdiction
may arrive over several days.”
For its part, Pfizer said it successfully shipped all the doses the federal government instructed it to send in the initial batch.
“We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses,” the company said in statement issued Thursday.
At least 1,000 Michigan health care workers around the state had already gotten a shot in the arm with Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine as of Wednesday.
Among them was Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state’s chief medical executive, who got a dose during a Thursday night news conference at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, where she works as an emergency department physician.
“We are now in a new era in fighting this virus,” Khaldun said during the Henry Ford news conference. “There is hope. And the end is near. Because of this vaccine, 2021 will be very different.”
Massachusetts-based Biotech company Moderna is on the brink of getting federal approval for its COVID-19 vaccine as well. If it is granted approval for emergency use, which could happen by Monday, it’ll give a boost to the tight supply of available vaccines.
The spokesperson from HHS said: “Operation Warp Speed remains on track to allocate enough vaccine for about 20 million Americans to receive their first doses before the end of the month, pending Moderna receiving an EUA” (emergency use authorization).
Whitmer says she can’t seem to get anyone on the federal level to explain the discrepancies.
“I can’t get a callback,” she said. “I know that states across the country are grappling with the same thing, this isn’t just an issue here.
“We have needs and people who want to get the vaccine, and the thing standing between us seeing that through is the federal government and I can’t get an answer why.
“If I sound frustrated it is because I am, but I know that governors across the country are feeling the same way, whether it’s Iowa or Florida or Illinois. I have seen my colleagues’ comments and I know they are dealing with the same level of frustration.”
States put together complex vaccine distribution and delivery plans, she said, and now must wait for vaccines that haven’t come, Whitmer said.
“When they don’t come in at the level we’re told, we’re wasting resources we don’t have to begin with,” she said. “And it means people aren’t getting the shots to to protect them from this virus, and they are sitting there at Pfizer. They are ready to be shipped. And for some reason, the federal government is not getting them to the states, and I can’t tell you what the answer is. That’s what I’m trying to find out, too.”