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More than two million Michigan residents are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination program.
But individuals are scrambling for how and when to get vaccinated, and healthcare providers readily admit that the hasty expansion of the program – which was announced last week – has led to a haphazard and piecemeal deployment.
“It’s early and there are so many questions,” said Heidi Britton, CEO of Northwest Michigan Health Services, a Traverse City-based nonprofit. “We all get them from our friends, family and patients.”
Here’s what you need to know.
Who is eligible now?
- Any Michigan resident 65 years of age or older.
- Teachers for preschool children up to grade 12.
- Police officers, first responders, prison and prison staff.
- Child care providers.
- Frontline state and federal workers.
- Health care providers and support staff who interact with the public.
- Residents and staff of long-term care facilities.
Note that the list does not include essential workers such as retail and food service workers or people under 65 who have a pre-existing condition.
How can people get vaccinated?
The vaccination program is overseen by local health departments, which means the process will vary from county to county.
That said, in most areas, local health departments and hospitals organize vaccination clinics for the elderly and other eligible people. Some communities may organize special clinics especially for teachers and / or first responders.
Residents and long-term care staff will receive their immunizations through a federal program in which CVS or Walgreen runs immunization clinics at each facility.
How can people find specific details about their community?
- Teachers, police officers and other essential workers should check with their employer if a specific vaccination clinic is scheduled for their workplace or how the vaccine will be distributed to essential workers in that county.
- Seniors are encouraged to check the home pages of their local health department as well as their local hospital system for how and when appointments will be available. It is advisable to check these pages daily.
- Some health departments and hospitals require eligible people to complete an online form so that people can be contacted when appointments are available. Once this form is filled out, people should check their email daily for an invitation to make an appointment.
- Seniors should also check their emails for a potential email from their local hospitals, a number of which use their databases to identify patients aged 65 and over to send out appointment invitations.
- Childcare providers who are self-employed should follow the same path as the elderly and seek an appointment for vaccination with their local health department or hospital.
For now, vaccination clinics are by appointment only
Don’t show up to a walk-in vaccination site or bother looking for a walk-in clinic in Michigan, at least for now, health officials say. For a number of reasons, providers say COVID-19 vaccination clinics will be by appointment only.
One of the reasons is the need to maintain social distancing and to minimize the number of people at the vaccination site at all times.
Another factor: COVID-19 vaccines have very specific storage and handling requirements, and providers need to know exactly how many doses to prepare each day.
It may take weeks to get an appointment
With more than two million Michigan residents now eligible for the vaccine, demand far exceeds supply.
“Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough vaccines available in Michigan to be able to immunize everyone who is eligible right now,” MDHHS spokeswoman Lynn Sutfin said.
Subtracting the doses of vaccine already administered and those allocated to the immunization program for residents and long-term care staff, Michigan had just under 300,000 doses of vaccine available as of Monday.
Additionally, Michigan receives its vaccine doses from the federal government, and it is not known week after week how much the state will receive for distribution to hospitals, local health departments and other health care providers.
This uncertainty means that those administering the vaccine are reluctant to make appointments too in advance. For example, Elmouchi said Spectrum Health has scheduled 11,000 appointments this week, but is waiting to see how much vaccine it will receive for next week before opening that calendar for appointments.
The situation is the same in the Traverse City area.
“We are asking if you are eligible now, you can fill out an appointment request,” said Wendy Hirschenberger, chief of the Grand Traverse County health department. “We will contact you when these appointments are available. We will have a planning tool; that’s how we work. But it can take weeks or more (to get an appointment) depending on the size of those groups and how quickly the vaccine is coming. So we ask people to be aware and aware of it and to have a little patience.
Try to avoid calling or emailing local hospitals and / or health departments
Local health officials say they are “inundated” with phone calls and emails from people wanting information, to the point of overloading their staff.
“We post information on our website and encourage people to check it frequently,” Hirschenberger said. “We are asking people to reserve our phone and messaging capacity for those who cannot easily access information online.”
The same is true at Munson Healthcare, said Dianne Michalek, communications director for the hospital system, which serves the Traverse City area.
“A lot of our standards and clinics are inundated with phone calls and questions,” Michalek said. “It’s got to a point where we can’t answer everyone’s individual questions.”
People with individual questions are advised to call 211.
Employers can require the vaccine, but most do not.
In theory, employers could impose the vaccine. But because the vaccines have been approved by the Federal Drug Administration for emergency use, few or no vaccines require them.
Learn more about MLive:
What worked in 2020 and what needs to work in 2021 for 12 Michigan schools
2020 was the deadliest year on record for Michigan and COVID-19 was the # 3 killer
For Michiganders New to Vaccine Eligibility, Excitement Is High But Details Are Few
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