The city of Detroit this week turned down its allotted doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, and Mayor Mike Duggan on Thursday doubled his reasoning for sticking to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
“Johnson & Johnson is a very good vaccine. Modern and Pfizer are the best,” Duggan told a news conference. “And I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure Detroit residents get the best.”
According to Bob Wheaton, public information officer in the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Detroit would have received 6,200 of the J&J single doses, but did not want to do so and did not receive any more doses of Moderna and Pfizer. . They went to “other health departments that had lower coverage rates for those aged 65 or older,” Wheaton wrote in an email.
Detroit received 17,000 first doses of Moderna and Pfizer this week and 12,000 second doses for a total of 29,000. At the beginning of February, it is 15,000 a week higher. Duggan expects to receive 25,000-30,000 more next week.
“I believe we will have a Moderna and Pfizer vaccine for every Detroiter who wants one. The day may come when we have more Detroiters asking for vaccinations than we have Moderna, Pfizer, in which case we have a Johnson & Johnson will set up website. … I do not see it in the next few weeks, ” he said. for everyone who wants to get vaccinated. “
The Detroit Free Press first reported that Detroit rejected J&J doses.
Compared to the two-dose versions manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer, the J&J vaccine is less resource-intensive to distribute and administer. It can be stored for months at chilled temperatures, rather than frozen, and patients do not have to return for a second dose three or four weeks later. This is a positive sign for officials who expect to accelerate vaccine administration across the country.
However, Duggan said the city’s vaccine administration system smoothly handles two types of two-dose vaccines on one large site in the downtown TCF Center garage. He added that he believes it is worth the extra protection to do extra work.
Scientists from the Food and Drug Administration have confirmed that the J&J vaccine is generally about 66 percent effective in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19, and about 85 percent effective against the most serious disease. The agency also said that J & J’s vaccine is safe. The other two are 95 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19.
“CDC has recommended its use for all adults 18 or older,” MDHHS spokesman Wheaton wrote in an email. ‘All immunizing providers who can manage the storage and management of vaccines for a vaccine are expected to accept vaccines.
“The Johnson and Johnson vaccines were distributed to local health departments and some hospitals this week, so that all doses were given on top of the Moderna and Pfizer distribution. The city of Detroit’s Johnson and Johnson vaccine was 6,200. They have no “Moderna or Pfizer vaccine to replace the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.”
Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told the Associated Press that evidence shows no reason to favor one vaccine over another.
“What people I think most interested in is that it keeps me from getting really sick?” Collins told the AP. “Will it stop me from dying of this terrible disease? The good news is that all these things say yes to it.”
Detroit has received national recognition for the effectiveness testing and vaccination of residents through mass centers.
However, the city still lags behind provinces and the state as a whole when it comes to the total percentage of adults vaccinated. Of Detroit’s adults, 11 percent have been vaccinated so far. For Macomb County, the figure is 16.5 percent; 19.1 percent for Oakland County; 18.6 percent for outer Wayne County, and 18.5 percent for Michigan as a whole.
Nearly 251,000 vaccines have been distributed in Detroit since Wednesday, with nearly 130,000 of those going to the city government, according to state and local data. Others go to private providers, including healthcare systems.
The federal government announced this week that it will increase the supply of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to states next week to 15.2 million doses per week, up from 14.5 million previously. States would also receive 2.8 million doses of the J&J shot this week.
New Thursday allows the TCF Center Vaccination website for any Detroit resident with underlying conditions 50 years and older to schedule appointments by calling (313) 230-0505. Other eligible groups include food, manufacturing and healthcare workers. More details are on the city’s website.
Duggan said Thursday that he believes Detroit is the only city in the U.S. where vaccine workers and those in manufacturing who live and / or work in the city can be vaccinated.
The state announced Wednesday that it will expand access to people 50 years and older with disabilities or existing medical conditions from March 8 and start caring for children with special health needs. Detroit does the same.
Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy on March 22 enabled a 50-year-old resident of Michigan to have one of the three vaccines available.
Detroit was also a milestone on Thursday with the administration of the 100,000th vaccine dose. About two-thirds of them went to Detroiters and the other third to non-Detroiters working in the city, Duggan estimated Thursday.
The drive-through website went from a few hundred then 1,000 appointments a day to 4,500 on Thursdays. The most it can handle is 5,000.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.