Michigan announced on Friday that all residents aged 16 and over will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 5, almost a month before the date promised by President Joe Biden on May 1.
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People aged 16 to 49 with certain medical conditions or disabilities will be eligible from March 22, when people aged 50 to 64 can start receiving vaccines with an earlier announcement. Two days later, March 24, a regional mass vaccination site selected by the federal government will open at Ford Field in Detroit to administer 6,000 additional doses per day for two months.
“The safe COVID-19 vaccine is the most effective way to protect you, your family and others from the virus,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer in a statement. “It will help the country to return to normal and help the economy.”
The United States hopes to have enough doses for adults by the end of May, but Biden has warned that the process of administering those doses will take time. As of Wednesday, about 22% of Michigan’s 16-year-old population had been wholly or partially vaccinated.
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The state health department said it could take “several weeks” beyond April 5 for anyone who wants the vaccine to get an appointment.
