Biden announces goal to get all educators at least one dose of Covid vaccine by end of March
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on Tuesday a series of eased Covid-19 restrictions to take effect March 5, both in light of a forthcoming shipment of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines and improved positivity rates and cases.
Whitmer said Michigan has administered 2,269,495 Covid-19 vaccines so far. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said the state expects to receive 82,700 doses of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
However, Whitmer cautioned that after this week, they will receive far fewer doses as the company works to manufacture the doses simultaneously with distribution.
She also said Michigan is equitably distributing at least 50,000 shots per day to underrepresented groups, a metric the state has met for 16 days. Additionally, Khaldun said the state has vaccinated over 45% of its residents age 65 and over.
Here are some of the restriction changes:
- Michigan will reopen restaurants and bars at 50% capacity, up from 25%. Up to six people may sit at a single table, and tables must be distanced six feet apart, Whitmer said.
- All restaurants will have a 11 p.m. curfew.
- Michigan will also allow visitations at nursing homes, with up to two visitors allowed per resident, provided there has not been a positive case at the nursing home in the preceding 14 days.
- Capacity limits in retail, casinos, gyms, stadiums and other entertainment and recreational facilities will also increase, Whitmer said.
The latest numbers: Khaldun said Michigan has had a 3.7% positivity rate over the last week. Inpatient hospitalizations remain down as well, at 3.9%, and both metrics are similar to where the state was in October, she said.
However, Michigan is still bracing with the introduction of the B.1.1.7 variant of the virus. So far, it has identified 422 cases of the variant, two-thirds of which have been associated with a correctional facility outbreak, Khaldun said. Other cases in the state are not traceable, though.
Note: These numbers were released by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
