In COVID-Plagued Michigan, Warning Signs That Vaccinations Are Stalling
When Michigan’s St. Clair County held a walk-in COV1D-19 vaccination clinic last week with 1,600 shots at the ready, only about 800 people signed up in advance. Walk-in traffic was slow. A quarter of the available shots…
When Michigan’s St. Clair County held a walk-in COV1D-19 vaccination clinic last week with 1,600 shots at the ready, only about 800 people signed up in advance. Walk-in traffic was slow. A quarter of the available shots went unused, says Jennifer Michaluk, a county health department official.
St. Clair County, which sits on the Canadian border just northeast of Detroit, is a COVID hotbed. Earlier in the month, 30% of virus tests were coming back positive. Michigan has seen the biggest case spike of any state in recent weeks.
Despite the surge, health officials for more than 20 counties in Michigan told Reuters eligible residents are not showing up for their shots, particularly in rural areas that supported Republican Donald Trump in November’s election, increasingly inhibiting their ability to contain the outbreak.
In the early stages of the vaccination campaign, officials said, people were knocking down the doors. But this month, even as the state opened up the shots to all adults, counties across Michigan like St. Clair County noticed the once-crushing demand was beginning to lessen.
“For a 500-appointment clinic, we are getting 50 to 60% of the appointments filled. A month ago, we could fill a clinic in 15 minutes flat,” said Danielle Persky, deputy health officer for Cass and Van Buren counties, which sit near Lake Michigan in the southwestern part of the state and strongly supported Trump in November.
Her department has taken to Facebook to urge local residents to “Stop on by for a vaccine!”
Trump’s strongest base of support – white voters without a college degree – has traditionally been distrustful of large government programs such as the vaccination rollout. Local health officials said they have also had to combat a torrent of misinformation on social media about the virus and the efficacy of the vaccines.
While there are areas such as Oakland County outside of Detroit where demand still outstrips supply, other regions in the state say that just about everyone who wants a shot can get one now. Experts worry that momentum is slowing, both in Michigan and elsewhere.
“We’re starting to hit that wall in some areas, where most of the people who were anxious to be vaccinated have gotten their vaccines, and the rest are either still considering or have decided against it,” said Tara Smith, an epidemiologist at Kent State University in neighboring Ohio.