It looks like Michigan won't be getting 84,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, as previously reported.
On Wednesday, Michigan health officials confirmed that the state would receive 29% fewer doses of the Pfizer vaccine starting next week, Crain's Business reports. The unexplained dip in doses comes days after the first shipments left a West Michigan facility for distribution across the U.S., while Michigan hospitals, including Beaumont Health, Spectrum Health, and the University of Michigan Health System, administered their first doses on Monday, prioritizing the inoculation of frontline health care workers.
As of Dec. 15, 244 doses of the vaccine were administered in Michigan with more than 26,235 distributed to the states 297 vaccine providers, according to the Michigan's new vaccine dashboard.
In an email to Crain's, Michigan Department of Health spokeswoman Lynn Sutfin said the choice to reduce Michigan's doses from 84,000 to 60,000 was “decided at the federal level and subject to change.”
Last week, just one day after the U.S. reported a record number of more than 3,140 COVID-19 deaths, with 75 of those deaths in Michigan, state officials announced a prospective distribution plan of approximately 84,825 doses of the Pfizer vaccine within the first shipment and, when approved by the FDA for emergency distribution, 173,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
Michigan isn't the only state that has apparently had its proposed vaccine supply slashed by the feds. Officials in Illinois have been told that their shipments could be cut in half, for reasons unknown.
However, in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has claimed that Pfizer production issues are to blame for the delay in shipment and distribution of 450,000 to Flordia's most vulnerable. Pfizer says that's not true.
“Pfizer has not had any production issues with our COVID-19 vaccine, and no shipments containing the vaccine are on hold or delayed. We are continuing to dispatch our orders to the locations specified by the U.S. government,” a Pfizer spokesperson shared with Crain's.
But Flordia has a bigger problem — DeSantis has not issued mask mandates, nor has the state closed schools or businesses. On Tuesday, the governor declared that restaurants would remain fully open while the pandemic surges throughout the state.
Meanwhile, in Michigan, where many schools, businesses, and indoor dining remain closed, cases are on the decline. The state recorded “its 12th consecutive day” of decline in new cases on Wednesday and in the last two weeks, COVID-19-related hospitalizations are also dropping throughout the state.
I teamed up with @GovAndyBeshear, @GovMikeDeWine, @GovEvers, @GovHolcomb, @GovPritzker, and @GovTimWalz to remind our states that, this holiday season, we can eradicate #COVID19 if we unite together. Let's get to work. pic.twitter.com/VrcS9HZnHu
— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) December 15, 2020
Earlier this week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined the governors of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin to urge residents to reconsider traveling for the holidays or celebrating with multiple households.
“Just one infection can cause an outbreak in your community, which could overwhelm our hospitals and put you and your loved ones at risk,” Whitmer said. “We owe it to the brave men and women serving on the front lines of this pandemic to do our part and be smart this holiday season."
To view Michigan's COVID-19 vaccine dashboard, visit Michigan.gov/coronavirus.
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