Today, on
Stateside, beginning April 5th all Michigan residents aged 16 and up will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. But are health departments ready for this new wave? Plus, so many of us looking forward to life after the pandemic, but how exactly do we return to normal?
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County health departments prepare for onslaught of vaccine-eligible people
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If you live in a part of Michigan that has COVID vaccine doses, and you’re in a priority group, you might be trying to make a decision right now: Is it
6:25
The pandemic has made it difficult for many people - not just those with COVID-19 - to get the health care they need. Listen to Michelle Matiyow s story of love and loss in pandemic.
Diane Herrmann and her daughter Michelle Matiyow.
Credit Courtesy Michelle Matiyow
My name is Michelle Matiyow. I m a photographer. My mom was Diane Herrmann. She was an elementary school teacher. She was absolutely one of the kindest, warmest, smartest, most rational people I ve ever met.
Things got really bad around Christmastime last year [2019], and we knew we were getting near the end. [My stepfather Rich’s] cancer had metastasized into his bones. There s no coming back from that.
It’s been a long, hard pandemic for restaurants. Michigan has banned indoor dining at restaurants twice to try and slow the spread of coronavirus once at the beginning of the pandemic and again in November. The second ban is still in effect through at least January 15.
Tracy and Matt Godbold, co-owners of The Rusty Nail in Carson City in mid-Michigan s Montcalm county. The Godbold s moved to Michigan from Arizona to take ownership of the restaurant in 2019.
Credit Courtesy of Matt Godbold / Courtesy of Matt Godbold
With public health restrictions limiting their business for much of the past year, restaurants have struggled to stay open for business. A December study from Top Data and Zenreach indicates spending at restaurants at the end of 2020 declined 11% from January of last year.