All adults are eligible for COVID vaccine on April 5

LANSING, Mich. Michigan announced Friday that all residents aged 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 5, almost a month before the date that President Joe Biden promised on May 1st.

People aged 16 to 49 with certain medical conditions or disabilities qualify from March 22 when 50- to 64-year-olds can start shooting under a previous announcement. Two days later, March 24, a federally selected local mass vaccination site in Detroit’s Ford field will be open to administer an additional 6,000 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.”

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Michigan was the third state to announce broad qualifications this week. In Alaska, people 16 years and older are eligible. Utah will vaccinate those who are at least 18 years old from April 1st.

The US expects to have enough doses for adults by the end of May, but Biden warned that the process of administering the doses would take time. As of Wednesday, about 1.8 million people, 22% of Michigan’s 16-year-old population, had been completely or partially vaccinated.

Whitmer and state health officials said they are eligible, based on the amount of vaccines expected and the directive Biden issued on May 1 Thursday in his first speech. According to the state health department, it could take a few weeks after April 5 for anyone who wants the vaccine to make an appointment. Providers are said to consider the risk of exposure to work and their vulnerability to serious illness when planning appointments.

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The site in Detroit will operate 12 hours a day for eight weeks, vaccinating at least 168,000 people with two Pfizer shots, possibly using more than one vaccine vaccine in the last two weeks. Detroit was selected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which prioritizes vulnerable areas. Instructions on how to book an appointment will be announced in the coming days.

Kevin Sligh, FEMA’s acting administrator in the Great Lakes region, said the site would expand the vaccination rate “in an efficient, effective and equitable manner, with an explicit focus on ensuring high-risk local communities. of exposure to COVID-19 and infection are not left behind. ”

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Follow David Eggert at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00