With COVID-19 surging again in MI, there's a race for vaccinations. Getting one at the FEMA site....

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With COVID-19 surging again in Michigan, there’s a race for vaccinations. Getting one at the FEMA site at Ford Field is a breeze.
By Lee DeVito


(Detroit Metro Times) The trucks that rolled out of the Pfizer facility near Kalamazoo in December carrying the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines offered one of the first tangible symbols that this pandemic could eventually end, and like many people eager to survive it, I wanted to register to get one as soon as possible. I knew that frontline workers, the elderly, and the immunocompromised would be prioritized, and as a man in my 30s with no health conditions, I was prepared to wait a while. So I waited. Vaccination clinics started to become available through local health departments, as well as retail pharmacies like Meijer, CVS, and Rite Aid. Finally, as eligibility and availability expanded in early March, I registered for a vaccine from the health department for Oakland County, where I live, and through Meijer, which is down the street. I planned to just go with whichever one came through first.

Then — crickets. Nothing, not even a text back.

Meanwhile, it seemed like everyone I knew was already getting their vaccines. I started hearing stories about people who managed to get one just by being in the right place at the right time, scoring shots from pharmacies who needed to use up their doses before they expired, and then I began to hear more and more about impatient Michiganders who were traveling to Ohio, where vaccine access was far easier. I started feeling something I haven’t felt for more than a year — hello FOMO, my old friend — and considered registering at one more place. While Detroit has been running a drive-through vaccination clinic at TCF Center for city residents and workers, it wasn’t clear if I would be eligible, since I’ve mostly been working from home during the pandemic.

The timing couldn’t be any more urgent. Coronavirus cases in Michigan are soaring in recent weeks as part of a third surge that threatens to dwarf its previous two. Disturbingly, more than a year into the pandemic, Michigan is once again one of the top U.S. hotspots for the virus, with officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranking the state with the highest number of COVID-19 cases per capita for the past seven days at 398.5 cases per 100,000 people, with New York City at 347.9 cases and New Jersey at 341.7 cases. ..................(more)

https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/with-the-virus-surging-again-in-michigan-theres-a-race-for-vaccinations-my-experience-was-a-bit-confusing-but-ultimately-painless/Content?oid=26830547#.YG3WXZBRyuc.link