Health Department says vaccinations set for next week may be delayed
The Health Department of Northwest Michigan said in a news release yesterday that the COVID-19 vaccination clinics they’ve scheduled for next week may be delayed or limited due to issues with vaccine allocations. It’s unclear at this time how the issues may affect the clinic scheduled for Tuesday the 19th here on the island. Over the past days the Health Department has repeatedly changed the procedures for signing up for shots and a number of islanders have reported unpleasant experiences in trying to complete the process they have been told to follow.
The press release is available here and is copied below.
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January 15, 2021
Health Department of Northwest Michigan COVID-19 Update
Vaccine allocations adjusted, limited doses available locally
The Health Department of Northwest Michigan received notification this afternoon from the state that
the amount of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine being allocated to us is less than anticipated.
Therefore, vaccine appointments may be adjusted next week to reflect this lower amount.
We are taking this opportunity to remind everyone that the biggest barrier health departments are
working through is the limited doses of vaccines available to help reach the goal of vaccinating 70
percent of our population age 16 and above. Until a consistent vaccine allocation schedule from the
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is established, vaccine clinics must be planned one
week at a time. Although there have been media reports about the eventual release of additional
allocations to the state, the health department has received no official notification of the validity or
timing of this.
“These late changes require us to re-evaluate the feasibility of our scheduled clinics next week with the
allocation we have just been notified we will be receiving,” said Health Officer Lisa Peacock. “We want
community members to know we have plans in place to provide safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine
clinics but are limited to how many people we can vaccinate due to limited vaccine allocations. We will
communicate any necessary changes as soon as possible,” she added.
The health department is pleased with the progress made in scaling up our clinics and the number of
people vaccinated. During the past week we vaccinated over 1000 people, including over 700 people
from the two large scale clinics held yesterday in two of our counties:
• Charlevoix County clinic: 367 doses administered
• Emmet County clinic: 361 doses administered
These clinics were unique as it allowed the health department to offer vaccinations outside of business
hours to the approved segments of priority group 1B. With the partnership and support from local
emergency managers, county officials, and volunteers, the health department was able to vaccinate this
large number of individuals efficiently and safely. Health officials have been excited with the number of
individuals ready to receive their vaccination and look forward to continuing to offer community clinics
as vaccine supply allows.
Additional vaccine allocation and administration data can be found by visiting the State of Michigan
vaccine dashboard. This dashboard displays the total amount of vaccine received and administered by
local health departments and local hospital(s).