PHYSICIANS CELEBRATE NEWS OF MICHIGAN MASS VACCINATION SITE, INCREASING VACCINE ELIGIBILITY

LANSING, MI — Today President Joe Biden announced that his administration would be supplying Michigan with enough COVID-19 vaccines to set up a mass vaccination site, and Governor Whitmer followed up with the announcement that it would take place at Ford Field in Detroit. Gov. Whitmer also released announcements stating that Michiganders with disabilities will be eligible to get the vaccine on March 22nd, and all aged 16 and up will be eligible April 5th.

“President Biden has assured us that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and the hard work that he and Governor Whitmer are doing is bringing that light closer,” said Dr. Rob Davidson, an emergency physician in west Michigan and Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Medicare. “The vaccines are the best tools we have to get back to normal together, and soon many more Michiganders will have access to these tools to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.”

Michigan is 10th in the nation for the number of vaccines distributed, having administered over 2 million. The mass vaccination site in Detroit will build on this number with the capacity to distribute 6,000 vaccines per day for eight weeks. The site was selected because the area was one of those hardest hit by the pandemic.

“A year into this devastating pandemic, my patients and all Michiganders have reason to celebrate finally,” said Dr. Farhan Bhatti, a family physician in Lansing and Michigan State Lead for the Committee to Protect Medicare. “Ramping up vaccination in Detroit and Southeast Michigan, which felt the disproportionate impact of the nasty COVID-19 disease, will help save more lives, protect people’s health so they can work and provide for their families, and get our state to the other side of this more quickly.” 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, Mar. 12, 2021

NOTE: The physicians above are speaking in their capacity as members of the Committee to Protect Medicare. They should be identified only as indicated in this news release.