Health Departments to begin vaccinating new group
ALPENA, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced that COVID-19 vaccine eligibility will now include adults 50 years and older beginning this month.
On Monday, March 8, vaccine eligibility will include adults 50 and older with medical conditions or disabilities, and caregiver family members and guardians of children & adults with special health care needs. Two weeks after, beginning Monday, March 22 MDHHS eligibility will include all adults 50 and older.
While giving priority to the above-mentioned individuals, effective Monday, March 8, District Health Department No. 4 will expand on the MDHHS eligibility to permit all adults 50 and older to pre-register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Frontline essential workers in Priority 1B, Group C are also eligible. This includes food and agriculture workers, utilities or critical manufacturing workers, transit and grocery store workers, U.S Postal Service workers, and workers with unique skill sets not covered above, such as non-hospital laboratories, veterinarians.
Pre-registration for the expanded group starts Monday, March 8; newly eligible will not be able to pre-register until then. To pre-register, please visit www.dhd4.org/covid19vaccine and use the pre-registration link. Once submitted, you will receive a “thank you for your submission” message. You will not receive a confirmation email. Patience is appreciated as DHD4 still has a few thousand individuals out of over 12,000 pre-registrations from the previous priority groups that we continue to prioritize.
With this new expansion, there are thousands of newly eligible individuals and everyone who wants the vaccine will not be able to get it immediately. It is projected that it will be more than a few weeks before receiving a call for an appointment. If you need help pre-registering, call the Region 9 Area Agency on Aging at 989-358-4899.
