In-between the lines of cars, nurses and others at tables get paperwork done and prepare for more doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to be administered in the underground parking lot at the TCF Center in Detroit on Wednesday, January 13, 2021 Up to 400 vaccines were being distributed to people 75 and older in a quick and efficient drive up system.

Though the variant is more contagious, scientists believe both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines still offer protection, and urge people to use precautions such as mask wearing and social distancing until more people are vaccinated.

Those eligible for vaccines in the state now include health care workers, those who live or work in a long-term care centers, people ages 65 and older, teachers, day care providers and law enforcement officers — all of whom fall within phase 1A, 1B, or — for those ages 65-74 — 1C priority groups?

Photographers from various newspapers and wire services photograph Melody Armstrong, 65 of Detroit getting her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by registered nurse Jeffrey Sure, 60 of Farmington, Michigan in the underground parking lot at the TCF Center in Detroit on Wednesday, January 13, 2021 Up to 400 vaccines were being distributed in a quick and efficient drive up system.

There, a web link created for doctors, nurses and other health care workers to make appointments to get their shots was "in some cases ...

"As we move forward with vaccine administration of our community, we are in a position in which we need to trust that people who identify as being in an age group or essential occupation currently permitted by MDHHS (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services) are being truthful.".

The COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer is being unpacked Dec.

So far, Michigan's share of the national supply of 31 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines has been 831,150 doses.

Department of Health and Human Services to release doses of the vaccines that the department was said to have been holding in reserve. .

they have millions of doses of the vaccine on hand and are waiting on addresses from the Trump administration so they can deliver the vaccine to states. If you are unable or unwilling to give us that supply, we urge you to grant permission for us to directly purchase vaccines so we may distribute them to the people of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota as quickly as possible.".

Based on the current supply of vaccines, the state health department's immunization timeline estimates it won't be until May when all of the health care workers in the state who want a vaccine will get one.

AFP_8X27YP.jpg Boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan on December 13, 2020.

The timeline shows that vaccinations for other essential workers and people ages 16-64 years with underlying health conditions that puts them at high risk for serious COVID-19 complications won't open up until May.

The state's timeline for immunizations "is dependent on our vaccine supply and subject to change based on that supply," said Lynn Sutfin, a spokeswoman for the state health department.

A FedEx truck with Covid-19 vaccine loaded drive out of loading dock at Pfizer Global Supply in Portage, Mich., Sunday, Dec.

Every week since mid-December, Michigan has gotten 60,450 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which health officials divvy up among its 133 hospitals and health systems and four dozen local health departments, she said.

All of the doses of the Moderna vaccine delivered to the state so far — 241,500 doses — have been put in a bank for use in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes. .

But next week, Michigan is slated to get nearly 2,000 extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine and was granted permission from the federal government to pull 60,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine initially allocated to long-term care facilities for use in hospitals and at local health departments, Sutfin said. .

A syringe with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine ready for use on Jan.

The people living and working in long-term care facilities are getting COVID-19 shots through a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens.

Family medicine and primary care physicians say they have long-standing relationships with patients and are in a unique position to help ensure that the people who most need vaccines get them — if state health officials would only include them in the process.  .

"In fact, while the state of Michigan makes a push (to) get all patients caught up on all needed vaccinations, the COVID-19 vaccine has not been made available to the physicians and their staff who know these patients and have the expertise, equipment and processes in place to administer these vaccines. 

"These physicians and their staffs have been left out of the initial distribution plan.  In order to protect front-line health care workers and increase access to the COVID-19 vaccination for everyone in a timely manner, this needs to change.”

The underground parking lot at the TCF Center in Detroit started giving the first shot of the vaccine to people 75 and older on Wednesday, January 13, 2021 Up to 400 vaccines were being distributed in a quick and efficient drive up system

"They're trying to build out new infrastructure for vaccine delivery when there's already some infrastructure," Jackson said. "Close to two-thirds of vaccines in the state are given by primary care physicians, and we're on the back bench

AFP_8X28CT.jpg Workers move boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine as they are prepared to be shipped at the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan on December 13, 2020

We hope to maybe see that delivery of vaccine distribution to include primary care doctors to make sure that we're getting the right people first