Ford Field in Detroit will become a mass vaccination site for the Detroit metropolitan area

READING: FEMA to convert Ford Field into a regional mass vaccination site

It was initially reported in February that FEMA officials were visiting Ford Field and planning to turn the Detroit Lions home into a major vaccination site.

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Ford Field is becoming one of the 20 mass vaccination sites in the country. Detroit was a hot spot for COVID in 2020, but it will now help protect thousands of people from the coronavirus.

A mobile vaccine clinic will deliver 1,000 doses to Detroit’s poorest neighborhoods.

There is no charge, no insurance is required and parking will be provided.

“As the state of Michigan is using the CDC’s vulnerability index, prioritizing people being vaccinated on this site is for people who faced barriers and challenges and were really hard hit during the pandemic. People of color, people of low income or low wealth, people who are struggling with persistent poverty, ”said Michigan Governor Garlin Gilchrist.

Michigan residents who are currently eligible – more than 50 with pre-existing illnesses – will be the first to be vaccinated. On March 22, residents aged 16 and over with certain medical conditions can be vaccinated, and on April 5, all adults become eligible for vaccination.

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Local leaders in the Detroit metropolitan area said the move to vaccinate at Ford Field is big business, as counties continue to struggle with the state’s supply of the vaccine not yet meeting demand.

Ford Field will be offering the Pfizer vaccine.

“Like so many, I cried so many tears. My heart is broken, ”said Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence. “I don’t want to lose another person in this community.”

Lawrence said the past year has been devastating as Detroit has become a hot spot.

“We need to bring this community together again,” said Lawrence. “Protect lives and move Michigan and Detroit forward.”

The way forward, according to her, is the location of the Ford Field vaccination.

She has a message for anyone on the fence about the vaccine. She said she told the doctor that she was reluctant before being vaccinated.

“He said, ‘What is your fear?’ and I said, ‘I can get sick,’ ”recalled Lawrence. “He said,“ I can heal the sick, I cannot heal the dead. I need you to lead. Get your vaccine. ‘”

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RELATED: Here is Michigan’s updated COVID-19 vaccination schedule: Who is eligible and when