GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced a statewide goal on Tuesday to have 1 million more Michiganders, including 95% of eligible nursing home residents, receive the COVID-19 booster by Jan. 31, 2022.
Governor Whitmer and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Elizabeth Hertel announced the statewide goal during a press briefing in Grand Rapids Tuesday morning.
Whitmer and Hertel also outlined actions residents can take to keep themselves and their families safe this holiday season.
“As Omicron becomes the dominant COVID-19 variant in the United States, we all have to step up this holiday season to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe,” said Governor Whitmer. “Our hospitals and health care workers have been working tirelessly to save lives, and we are in for a tough four to six weeks. We must all take action to protect ourselves and help our healthcare workers and hospitals do their jobs. I encourage every Michigander who is eligible to get their booster shot. Together, we can help 1 million more Michiganders, including 95% of all eligible nursing home residents get their boosters by the end of January 2022. We know from preliminary data that the booster offers more robust protection against Omicron. A 15-minute appointment to get your booster can help keep you out of the hospital and save your life. If you still have not gotten vaccinated yet, know that it is not a matter of if you will get sick but of when. We have safe and effective vaccines. Please get your shots.”
According to officials, MDHHS has been coordinating the allocation and monitoring of federally distributed Monoclonal Antibody medication, working on expansion and identifying staffing resources for sites.
Whitmer and Hertel are encouraging Michiganders to get the vaccine and a booster, and mask up in public indoor settings and crowded outdoor settings – especially if you or someone in your household was a weakened immune system.
Right now, Michigan’s positivity rate remains at 16.2% and cases are at 477 cases per million. State officials say over the past month, 30- to 39-year-olds were experiencing the highest case rate.
The percent of inpatient hospital beds occupied by individuals with COVID is now at 20.8%.
According to state officials, in October unvaccinated people had 4.3 times the risk of testing positive for COVID-19 and 13.2 times the risk of dying from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people.
From Jan. 3 – Dec. 15, 2021, people who were unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated represented: 85.1% of COVID-19 cases, 88.1% of hospitalizations and 85.5% of deaths.
