(WXYZ) — Detroit set the standard with a COVID-19 testing assembly line back in the summer, and now all eyes are on the city as it prepares for a much lager undertaking – administering vaccines in winter.
Related: Henry Ford: Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine could be in Michigan by Dec. 12
Mayor Mike Duggan made an appearance Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation, where he said the city is planning on testing 5,000 people a day.
Henry Ford Health System also has freezers to store the vaccines, and is waiting to see just how many they will get, while the city is figuring how out to distribute as many as possible.
"The magnitude of what we're talking about, this country has never experienced," Duggan said Sunday morning.
He points out that Detroit had the highest testing rate in the country – testing 1,200 people a day. The city is preparing to quadruple those efforts.
"To get the vaccinations out, we're going to have to vaccinate 5,000 a day just in Detroit," he said.
A massive undertaking, but not impossible. Duggan said parking garages will be used when the vaccines are ready.
"If you are able to vaccinate 5,000 people a day, you're still talking three or four months," he said.
The city's hospitals are also in full prep mode, with Henry Ford saying all of their hospitals are approved as distribution sites for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
"These have been set and activated at all our hospitals," Dr. Adnan Munkarah, Chief Medical Officer at Henry Ford Health System said.
Henry Ford still doesn't know when or how much vaccine they'll get when one is approved.
Duggan suspects hospital workers will get them first, followed by first responders and then people over the age of 65.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Michigan, a timeline of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Southeast Michigan, and links to more information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC and the WHO.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.
Visit our The Rebound Detroit, a place where we are working to help people impacted financially from the coronavirus. We have all the information on everything available to help you through this crisis and how to access it.