Whitmer rips feds for ‘slow walk’ of vaccines
She blames White House for bottleneck with Pfizer
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pointed a finger at the federal government Friday, saying it is holding back shipments of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to states, including Michigan, causing unnecessary delays and is shorting Michigan hospitals, health departments and nursing homes of potentially lifesaving vaccines.
“There are millions of Pfizer vaccines, many right here in Portage, Michigan, that are waiting to be shipped,” Whitmer said during a news conference. “But the feds are slow walking the process of getting the addresses to Pfizer for some reason I cannot get an answer to.”
banning in-person classes, indoor dining and many business operations were implemented in November and extended earlier this month, but were set to expire Sunday. The new order was announced Friday but takes effect Monday.
“We have made great progress, but that progress is precarious,” said Robert Gordon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. “Many countries and states have achieved gains like ours only to lose them. Our hospitals are still near capacity, 100 people are losing their lives to COVID each day.
“But if we stay on our current path, if we follow the science, and if we all do our parts, we will continue to save lives. We will protect our front line workers, and we’ll be able to open further into January.”
The order deems casinos, bowling alleys, bingo halls, gun ranges and similar venues as “lower-risk recreational facilities.” Up to six people from the same household will be allowed to enter these facilities, as long as they wear masks, stay away from other groups and do not consume food or beverages. These venues are not allowed to operate concessions; Gordon and others have said the necessity to remove a mask in order to eat makes the activity too risky to do inside around others.
No venue can have more than 100 people in the same space unless it is a stadium or arena holding a non-contact sporting event. These venues can have up to 250 people, the order states.
Gathering restrictions at retail establishments remain in effect: stores can’t exceed 30% capacity. Gyms, pools and ice rinks may open, but they must also follow guidelines that limit the number of people allowed inside.
Gyms and other exercise facilities cannot operate above 25% capacity, and all workout stations must be at least 12 feet apart. Group classes are not allowed.
Indoor ice and roller rinks are allowed to operate, but only for individual workouts or oneon-one training, according to the order.
State Senate Republicans criticized the governor for extending the indoor dining ban.
“We’ll get through COVID-19, thanks to improving treatments, people taking personal responsibility and the wonder of vaccines. But there are no treatments to cure lost jobs and no vaccines for bankruptcies,” tweeted Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake.
Sen. Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, is the chairman of a Senate committee focused on the state government’s fight against COVID-19. He’s already called for Gordon’s resignation; on Friday, he again took the governor to task on Twitter.
“Since COVID arrived restaurants have adopted protocols and invested to make their businesses safe. Yet the owners and employees of Michigan restaurants will now spend their holidays out of work and uncertain about their futures. They deserve much better from
(Whitmer),” Nesbitt tweeted.
Restaurant industry reacts to Whitmer order
Before being laid off in November, when the temporary pause went into effect, Alexandra Martin was the wine director and sommelier at Highlands, a swanky new steakhouse atop the Detroit Renaissance Center.
“For me it’s a mixed bag,” she said of the extension. “Working in the service industry especially when we were still open at the beginning of November, it was very scary to serve guests in that manner. People were coming in in flocks and we were extremely busy — and staying safe while maintaining that level of business was definitely challenging.”
But without income, the situation for Martin has grown dire. She said she took a few odd jobs over the summer that have complicated her unemployment filing and she hasn’t been able to receive any support.
“I haven’t been able to afford food to eat, let alone paying for things like rent,” she said. “I’m many months behind on my car payment.”
Nya Marshall, proprietor of the 11-month old Ivy Kitchen and Cocktails on Detroit’s east side, said she was devastated to hear the news that the indoor dining ban had been extended. She said she already had to lay off workers around Thanksgiving and would likely need to do so again.
Exasperated, Marshall said she felt like the restaurant industry was being unfairly singled out, noting crowds at local retailers with little visible enforcement of precautions.
“I place the blame on the people that are making the rules,” she said. “I understand the rules. These are safety precautions. At Ivy and at probably 95% of the restaurants, everyone is following the rules. We understand COVID is real. We understand the rules and enforcement. But when you come out with these mandates and don’t put resources behind it, especially when you know what’s going on — we are literally about to close our doors down. We’ve toughed it out as much as we can.”
Gordon and other state officials have said eating and drinking indoors puts people at a higher risk of contracting the virus than many other activities. Whitmer and the health department stressed restaurants can remain open for carryout and delivery orders.
GOP lawmakers and trade groups have criticized the orders as executive overreach doing harm to restaurants and other shops trying to survive. Lawmakers have also criticized banning in-person classes for high schools, arguing children are being harmed by not being physically in schools.
Health officials have repeatedly pointed to state outbreak data that shows high schools as the source of more than 100 ongoing or new outbreaks. Earlier this month, health organizations, including hospitals across the state, called on Whitmer to extend the order beyond its original three-week duration, pointing to infection and death rates that remain high.
More than 450,000 Michigan residents have contracted COVID-19 since the start of the
pandemic, with roughly 11,200 dying from the disease, according to state health officials.
The health department originally instituted the restrictions effective Nov. 18. They were set to expire Dec. 9, but the state extended the orders through 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.
The vaccine and what comes next
Whitmer and her supporters note the pandemic, not her orders, are to blame for the economic collapse experienced across the country. Opponents argue businesses can operate safely, but Whitmer and health officials point to increases in cases and deaths during times when orders are not in effect.
A state restaurant association sued the state in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to overturn the orders. Several Catholic schools also sued the state, as reported by Bridge Michigan and others, arguing policies that required all high schools to close amounted to restrictions on religious liberties.
The governor has called on the state Legislature to pass $100 million in state relief, money that would go to workers and businesses affected by the pandemic. While legislative leaders are generally supportive of helping workers and businesses, a spokesman for House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, said early Friday the negotiations on specific details of any plan are ongoing.
Senate Republicans announced the broad parameters of a plan Thursday evening. The news release did not include specific dollar amounts and repeatedly criticized the governor for her orders; that’s a sign the proposal lacks administrative buy-in.
“There is a desire all around to reach a deal on the $100 million relief bill, to provide support to the families and small businesses that have been hit hardest by the pandemic,” Whitmer said Friday.
“I’m hopeful that our leaders in the Legislature will join forces with me to get this completed, so we can get some much needed support for Michiganders. The strength of our state is depending on all of us working together to ensure support for our families and front line small businesses.”
The news comes as the state works to distribute doses of the Pfizer vaccine to as many front-line health care workers as possible. More than 58,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine had arrived at hospitals and health departments as of Wednesday. The company has promised to deliver 84,825 to Michigan this week.
At least 2,000 health care workers around the state had already gotten a shot in the arm with Pfizer’s newly approved coronavirus vaccine as of Thursday. But the state announced Thursday it would receive about 24,000 fewer doses than previously promised in its next shipment. Health officials didn’t have an explanation for why.
“The bottleneck appears to be the White House,” Whitmer said, blasting the administration of President Donald Trump.
For its part, Pfizer has said it successfully shipped all the doses the federal government instructed it to send.
On Friday, Massachusetts-based biotech company Moderna won also federal approval for its COVID-19 vaccine. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, granted the emergency authorization, which is expected to increase the supply of vaccines to fight the pandemic.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state’s chief medical executive, got a dose of the Pfizer vaccine 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 news conference. “There is hope. And the end is near. Because of this vaccine, 2021 will be very different.”
Although Whitmer instituted sweeping restrictions on gatherings and masks at the start of the pandemic, she eased some of them throughout the spring and early summer. However, she implemented new regulations in the early fall, pointing to rising case rates, hospitalizations and deaths.
In October, the Michigan Supreme Court invalidated Whitmer’s executive orders. It ruled one law she relied on was unconstitutional and another required she have legislative approval that she lacked.
Almost immediately thereafter, the health department issued orders under different state health laws that largely mirrored Whitmer’s executive orders. After the court’s order though, case rates and overall infections sharply increased. Whitmer has repeatedly pointed to what she has considered the confusion caused by the order as a factor contributing to the increasing number of cases and deaths.
The health department orders derive their power from a law passed in response to the flu epidemic of 1918 and are not affected by the court decision. However, state Republican lawmakers want to curtail that power in the future. The House and Senate have passed a bill that would require the director of the health department to receive legislative approval to issue an emergency pandemic order that would extend beyond 28 days.
Whitmer is not expected to sign the bill, and lawmakers do not have enough votes to override any veto.