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Michigan is awaiting doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, but federal delays mean they are sitting in Portage waiting to be shipped instead of being administered to frontline workers, Governor Gretchen said Friday Whitmer at a press conference.
“I still can’t get a clear answer from the Trump administration as to why Michigan, like many other states, is getting a fraction of the vaccines we should be getting,” Whitmer said.
According to the Associated Press, more than a dozen states have been told to expect significantly fewer doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine next week than they originally planned.
The Associated Press reported that Pfizer said its production levels had not changed and that senior officials in President Donald Trump’s administration had played down the risk of delays.
Whitmer said from what she could tell that the federal government was “walking slowly” to get shipping addresses to Pfizer while millions of doses of vaccine wait in warehouses.
“We have hospitals and nursing homes in Michigan ready to administer this vaccine, and the bottleneck appears to be the White House,” Whitmer said. “And I can’t know why.”
Related: Trucks carrying Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine leave Michigan facility for distribution
She called the office of the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Asar, but was unable to contact them. When she does, she has a simple question: “Where are our doses?” What is holding them back? When can we expect them?
“I am angry because this virus is raging in this country. And there is either corruption or nonsense. And it keeps us from saving lives and protecting people, ”Whitmer said.
She said states are preparing for vaccines, but vaccines are not meeting promised levels. She cited other governors who are also frustrated with the delays.
“If I sound frustrated, it’s because I am,” she said.
Michigan Health and Hospital Association CEO Brian Peters also called for clearer communication from the federal government in a statement on Friday.
“We find the lack of communication and clarity on the reduced allocation of Pfizer vaccine from the US Department of Health and Human Services disappointing and frustrating. Hospitals have gone to great lengths to ensure frontline caregivers are available to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, preventing vital staff from treating patients when Michigan is in the middle of a second outbreak of COVID-19, ”he said.
“Any delay in receiving the vaccine prolongs the vaccination process and puts health workers at increased risk of this deadly disease.”
Whitmer has long criticized the federal government for its lack of a national strategy to fight the coronavirus and reiterated it during its press conference on Friday.
She also announced an extension of some restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus, including a ban on indoor eating. Other restrictions – such as the one that previously banned in-person secondary education – are being lifted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Learn more about MLive:
No indoor dining until next year, but some entertainment venues will open under Michigan’s latest coronavirus order
Michigan Prepares To Resume In-Person High School Education
Michigan restaurants lose court battle to try to overturn ban on in-person eating
Exposure to PFAS may reduce potency of COVID-19 vaccine, experts warn
Friday, December 18, coronavirus data by county: majority of counties now below 10% positivity rate
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