Vaccinating Michigan: Tracking the progress of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout – Detroit Free Press

Posted: February 21, 2021 at 12:09 am

How is the COVID-19 vaccine rollout going in Michigan? We're tracking the state's progress to reach its goal: Vaccinate70% of Michigan residents age 16 and olderby year's end.

As of Thursday, the state reports 2,315,665 vaccine doses have been shipped, and 1,787,509 77% have been administered.

Michigan has roughly 8.1 million residents ages 16 and older, so getting to70% means about 5.7 million people willbe vaccinated. Both COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the U.S.,Pfizer and Moderna, require two shots for the most protection administered at least three or four weeks apart, depending on the manufacturer.

The state health department has set a goal of 50,000 shots in arms per day. Although some days have exceeded that threshold,the 7-day average remains below the goal.

[ Track Michigan's cases and deaths since the pandemic, and check outbreaks in our schools. ]

Early reporting shows the counties with the highest percentage of residents vaccinated are in the Upper Peninsula and northern lower Michigan. However, those counties' scarce populations are less of a factor in the state's overall progress than the more populous counties in the southern part of the state.

The following table shows the number and rate of initial and completed COVID-19vaccine series by county of residence. Also included is the city of Detroit, which has its own health department and is not part of Wayne County totals. Selecta column header to sort by vaccination rate, number of doses or geography.

Current state guidelines prioritize frontline essential workers in fields such ashealth care, long-term care,school and childcare, public safety and corrections. Long-term care residents and people over the age of 65 are also eligible for immunization.

Women are getting vaccinated at a higher rate than men, at least early on. Part of the reason is that women make up 55% of the population age 65 and older.

Although a majority of states have released information on the race and ethnicity of people receiving vaccines, Michigan has not.Michigan has released data on COVID-19 cases and deaths that show a higher percentage of African Americans have died with COVID-19 relative to the state's population.

At this time we're not giving that information because we do feel it's very incomplete, said Lynn Sutfin, a spokeswoman for the state health department in mid-February.

The Detroit Free Press, in partnership with Michigan Radio, has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking data about vaccinations by race to the state Department of Health and Human Services. Sarah Lyon-Callo, the states epidemiologist, said about 44% of COVID-19 vaccination records from December to mid-February lacked race data, and health officials are working to ensure that the informationis more complete going forward.

Nationwide, African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians are twice as likely as whites to die with COVID-19, according to the latest data fromthe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Thecorrelation between race and ethnicity and other issues that impact health like socioeconomic status, access to health care, and employment in frontline or other essential fields are cited by the CDC as factors that explain the increased risk.

The answerdepends upon supply and where you fall in the state's prioritization plan.

Here are some places to start:

Find additional resourceshere.

Vaccination data used to create this pageare downloaded from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard. Vaccine data are analyzed and aggregated by day, geography, demographics and other available dose metrics.

Population data by age and gender are from the U.S. Census Bureau. Specifically, population division 2019 estimates are used to calculate statewide statistics. And the latestAmerican Community Survey 5-year data are used for city and countyanalyses.

Published12:53 pm UTC Feb. 19, 2021Updated8:50 pm UTC Feb. 19, 2021

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Vaccinating Michigan: Tracking the progress of the state's COVID-19 vaccine rollout - Detroit Free Press

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