From Michigan s biggest cities to its far rural areas, the state s most vulnerable populations in nursing homes and long-term care facilities are finally starting to get COVID-19 vaccines with officials hoping to see declines in the number of cases and deaths soon after both doses of the vaccines are administered to residents and staff.
For many, that day can t come fast enough.
It brings the hope of hugging a parent, spouse, daughter, son or grandchild. It brings the anticipation of simply touching and holding a friend s hand.
More than 29,000 coronavirus cases have been reported among nursing home residents and staff, with 3,683 residents (more than 28% of the state s 12,918 deaths) and 34 staff dying so far in the pandemic.
CVS has administered almost 12,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine to residents and staff at Michigan nursing homes and a handful of other long-term care facilities, according to numbers released Wednesday morning by the pharmacy chain.
CVS is one of two pharmacies vaccinating residents and staff members of those types of facilities as part of the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care Program. It said it plans to vaccinate about 140,000 people in Michigan over the next 12 weeks. Walgreens, the other pharmacy contracted with the federal government to administer vaccines, has not released any data on the number of doses it has administered, how many it plans to administer or a timetable for doing so.