LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Everyone in Michigan 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in April, according to an announcement from Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the state health department Friday.
Plus starting March 22, anyone 16 and up with a qualifying medical condition will also be eligible.
The Governor says its latest effort to rapidly expand vaccine eligibility, with the ultimate goal of inoculating enough people in the state by the end of 2021.
Demand continues to outpace supply for the vaccine, so officials with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services urge patience.
Whitmer Friday also announced that an eight-week mass vaccination site with the capacity to administer 6,000 doses each day will open March 24 at Ford Field in Detroit to serve residents in the broader southeast Michigan region. The Biden Administration in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) selected southeast Michigan for this major new community vaccination site.
The site, which was selected according to the CDC’s priority tool to help those hardest hit and most vulnerable, will operate from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., seven days a week, for eight weeks under the federal government’s vaccination pilot program. The facility will be managed by the State of Michigan with support from FEMA, Wayne County, the City of Detroit, Ford Field, Meijer, Henry Ford Health System, and the Detroit Lions.
Thursday night the President announced that every American adult will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine by May 1, and that with a ramped up supply of vaccines, there will be enough doses for all U.S. adults by the end of May 2021.