More than two million Michigan residents are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine program.
But people are struggling for information about how and when they can get vaccines, and health professionals readily admit that the program’s swift expansion – which was announced last week – has resulted in a confusing and fragmented implementation.
“It’s early and there are a lot of questions,” said Heidi Britton, CEO of Northwest Michigan Health Services, a nonprofit organization based in Traverse City. “We all receive them from our friends, family and patients.”
Below is what you need to know.
Who is qualified now?
- Any Michigan resident aged 65 or over.
- Teachers for preschoolers up to 12th grade.
- Police, first responders, prison and prison staff.
- Child care providers.
- Frontline state and federal workers.
- Health care providers and support staff who interact with the public.
- Residents and employees in long-term care facilities.
Please note that the list does not include essential workers, such as retail and food service employees or people under 65 who have a pre-existing condition.
How can people get the vaccine?
The vaccination program is being supervised by the local health departments, which means that the process varies from municipality to municipality.
That said, in most areas, local health departments and hospitals are scheduling vaccination clinics for the elderly and other eligible people. Some communities may maintain special clinics specifically for teachers and / or first responders.
Residents and long-term care workers will receive their vaccines through a federal program in which CVS or Walgreen’s maintains vaccination clinics at each facility.
How can people find out specific details of your community?
- Teachers, police officers and other essential workers should check with their employer whether a specific vaccination clinic is being scheduled for their workplace or how the vaccine will be distributed to essential workers in that municipality.
- Elderly people should check the home pages of the local health department, as well as the local hospital system, for details on how and when appointments will be available. It is advisable to check these pages daily.
- Some health departments and hospitals are asking qualified people to complete an online form so that individuals can be contacted when consultations are available. After this form is completed, people should check their email daily for an invitation to schedule an appointment.
- Elderly people should also check their e-mails for potential e-mail from their local hospitals, several of whom are using their databases to identify patients 65 and older to send out invitations to consult.
- Caregivers of self-employed children should follow the same path as the elderly and seek a vaccination appointment through the local health department or hospital.
For now, vaccine clinics are by appointment only
Don’t show up at a vaccination location without an appointment and don’t worry about looking for a clinic in Michigan, at least for now, health officials say. For a number of reasons, providers say that COVID-19 vaccine clinics will be run by appointment only.
One reason is the need to maintain social distance and minimize the number of people at the vaccination site at any time.
Another factor: COVID-19 vaccines have very specific storage and handling requirements, and providers need to know exactly how many doses they need to prepare per day.
It may take weeks to get an appointment
With well over two million Michigan residents now eligible for the vaccine, demand is outstripping supply.
“Unfortunately, there is simply not enough vaccine available in Michigan to be able to vaccinate everyone who is eligible at this time,” said MDHHS spokeswoman Lynn Sutfin.
Subtracting the doses of vaccine already administered and those allocated to the vaccination program for residents and long-term care workers, Michigan had just under 300,000 doses of vaccine available on Monday.
In addition, Michigan receives its vaccine doses from the federal government and it is not clear, week by week, how much the state will receive for distribution to hospitals, local health departments and other health care providers.
This uncertainty means that those who administer the vaccine are reluctant to schedule appointments far in advance. For example, Elmouchi said that Spectrum Health scheduled 11,000 appointments this week, but is waiting to see how much vaccine it will receive next week before opening that schedule for consultations.
The situation is the same in the Traverse City area.
“We asked if you are eligible now, you can fill out an application,” said Wendy Hirschenberger, head of the Grand Traverse County Health Department. “We will contact you when these commitments are available. We will have a scheduling tool; that’s how we’re working. But it can take weeks or more (to make an appointment), depending on the size of these groups and how quickly the vaccine arrives. So we ask people to be aware and aware of this and to have a little patience. “
Try to avoid calling or emailing local hospitals and / or health departments
Local health officials say they are being “flooded” with phone calls and e-mails from people wanting information, to the point of overwhelming their teams.
“We are posting information on our website and we encourage people to consult it frequently,” said Hirschenberger. “We are asking people to reserve our phone and email capabilities for those who cannot easily access information online.”
The same thing is true at Munson Healthcare, said Dianne Michalek, director of communications for the hospital system, which serves the Traverse City area.
“Many of our telephone exchanges and clinics are being flooded with calls and questions,” said Michalek. “It has reached a point where we cannot answer everyone’s individual questions.”
People who have individual questions are advised to call 211.
Employers may require the vaccine, but most do not
In theory, employers could demand the vaccine. But because the vaccines have been approved by the Federal Drug Administration for emergency use, few or none are enforcing vaccines.
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