Credit John McNeill / WMUK
Teens from 12 to 15 now qualify for Pfizer's COVID vaccine. But they won’t be counted towards the state’s benchmarks for reopening the state.
Federal officials are expected to lay out guidelines for inoculating younger teens on Wednesday, May 12. But Governor Gretchen Whitmer said during a stop in Kalamazoo the day before that rolling back pandemic restrictions still depends on the 16-plus standard. She says that’s why the statistics for adolescents will be kept separately, for now.
"We're not going to immediately roll on those numbers because it would artificially slow the progress that we're making, and we want to give people predictability and goals to focus on, and that's why the 'Vacc-to-Normal' plan was so important."