DETROIT (WXYZ) — The first wave of eligible City of Detroit employees, health care workers and most vulnerable residents will begin receiving their COVID-19 vaccinations starting Wednesday, Mayor Mike Duggan announced on Tuesday.
On Monday, the city received its first shipment of 2,000 doses of the recently-approved Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. According to the city, those doses will be used to vaccinate appropriate Health Department Staff, home health care workers, staff and residents at assisted living facilities in the city.
Through the occupational health partnership with the city, workers from Henry Ford Health System will begin vaccinating Detroit’s EMS workers and firefighters, who are cross-trained as medical first responders.
The state of Michigan's plan for distributing the vaccine is broken down into four phases, the first three focusing on healthcare, medical and front line workers, as well elderly and vulnerable residents before beginning phase 4, which is the general population.
The first phase (1A) has three levels of priority, which the city expects to complete in January. They are:
- Health Department vaccinators and medical first responders
- Long-term care facilities & home health care with high-risk patients
- Health Department front line staff
Starting Wednesday, the first of the city’s 1,100 medical responders in the Detroit Fire Department will begin receiving Pfizer vaccinations through an occupational health partnership between the city and Henry Ford Health System, the city says.
Staff from HFHS will have its mobile unit on-site at DFD’s regional training facility to vaccinate interested personnel between Wednesday and the first week of January. Each of the city’s 47 fire companies are now being scheduled and as of today, more than 400 personnel have expressed interest in taking the vaccine.
The 2,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine the city received on Monday, will begin deploying this Wednesday, as well. Here is the initial timeline from the City of Detroit:
- December 23: Health Department Vaccination Team
- 30 staff
- December 28-30: Home Health Agencies
- 450 staff
- January 4-8: Nursing Home(s) not registered with CVS/Walgreens
- 166 staff and residents
- January 8-Feb 1: Other long term care facilities and senior buildings
These groups will be followed in early February by Phase 1B (residents ages 75 and older, DPD & DDOT) and Phase 1C (residents aged 65-74, those with high-risk health conditions, and other essential workers) in early April before the vaccine is offered to the general public in late spring, according to the city.
Mayor Duggan has said that he expects the city to vaccinate up to 5,000 residents per day over a period of several months to reach a majority of the adult population in Detroit, employing parking decks at TCF Center and Comerica Park to handle the volume.
The vaccines are not approved for children at this time.