All adult Michiganders to be eligible for vaccine in April

LANSING, Mich. — Governor Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced today that all adult Michiganders will be eligible to receive their COVID-19 vaccine in April.

Whitmer and MDHHS officials are expanding vaccine access one day after President Biden announced his plan to give all Americans eligibility on May 1. Rather than May, Michiganders 16 and older will be able to register for their vaccines in April.

Residents 16 and older with disabilities or medical conditions that put them at risk for COVID-19 will be eligible to receive their vaccine on March 22. With the expanded vaccine eligibility, providers are still encouraged to schedule appointments and allocate vaccinations to residents based on highest risk, including older residents, essential workers, and frontline workers. The most recent vaccine prioritization guidelines can be found on Michigan’s COVID-19 website.

“The safe COVID-19 vaccine is the most effective way to protect you, your family and others from the virus,” said Governor Whitmer. “It will help the country get back to normal and help the economy. Nearly one million Michiganders of all races have already been safely vaccinated. I urge all eligible Michiganders to get one of the three COVID-19 vaccines. It is essential to getting our country back to normal, so that we can all hug our families, get back to work, go to restaurants, send our kids to school, play sports and get together again. And as always: mask up, practice safe social distancing and avoid large indoor gatherings where COVID-19 can easily spread from person to person. We will eliminate this virus together.”

All vaccine providers may begin vaccinating the new priority group of 16-49 with medical conditions or disabilities by Monday, March 22. MDHHS is accelerating vaccination of these individuals due to concern around disparity in life expectancy and in an effort to remove barriers to vaccine access. Based on the anticipated amount of vaccines becoming available to the state and President Biden’s directive that all adults should be eligible by May 1 , Michigan has decided to move forward with allowing all Michiganders who were not previously eligible to begin receiving vaccine on Monday, April 5. As providers are scheduling appointments, they should consider an individual’s risk of exposure due to their employment and their vulnerability to severe disease in determining how to schedule appointments. It is anticipated that it may still take several weeks beyond April 5 for everyone who wishes to receive a vaccine to have an appointment.