Michigan To Surpass 6 million COVID-19 Vaccines Administered

LANSING, MI — Michigan is set to surpass six million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered Tuesday, with more than one million doses having been administered in the past 11 days alone, state officials said Tuesday.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — who, along with her daughter, received her first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine on April 6 — said the state will continue stressing the importance of vaccines until Michigan has reached its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of residents 16 and up.

"Our rollout continues picking up steam. We’ve administered six million doses in just over four months, and we went from five to six million in only 11 days," Whitmer said. "Despite the incredible progress we have made, however, we are still fighting this virus. The rising cases and hospitalization rates are a reminder that we must continue masking up, socially distancing, washing our hands, and crucially, getting vaccinated.

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Whitmer said in a statement that Michigan is working with the federal government to increase therapeutic treatments in its latest attempt to combat the virus. Whitmer and Michigan health officials said on April 14 that the state is expanding its use of monoclonal antibody therapy — the treatment used by former President Donald Trump when he had COVID-19 — in an attempt to significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19.

The governor also noted that its public health laws, including a mask mandate and recommendations for restricted gatherings, will be crucial to slowing the spread of the virus.

"We will emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever and celebrate Independence Day together with friends and family," Whitmer said. "We will become the state that beats this damn virus.”

To date, 45 percent of Michiganders have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to state data. More than 30 percent of residents are fully vaccinated. Officials said the state has repeatedly hit its daily dose goal of 100,000 shots.