(WWJ) While Michiganders will be strongly encouraged to get vaccinated against COVID-19, once the vaccine is available, getting vaccinated will not be mandatory.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was asked if schools and employers will be allowed to require COVID vaccinations.
As far as the state government is concerned, she said:
"There are no conversations around mandates — I think that's important for me to be very clear on," the governor said, adding: "I think any employer who is worried about making sure that their workforce is safe and healthy, they should be making plans right now for how they will encourage or incentivize their employees to get vaccinated."
Whitmer said it's just a matter of days now before plans will be finalized for what the vaccine rollout cadence will look like in Michigan, "once there is a vaccine that is safe, effective and approved and available for us to distribute."
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One the shots are ready, state officials expect to receive shipments of thousands of doses that will go to local hospitals, health departments and pharmacies.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Chief Medical Executive for Michigan. said recent government estimates show, for starters, Michigan can expect to receive around 84,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine if it becomes available in the U.S. as expected next week.
Shipments of the Moderna vaccine, which is just behind the Pfizer vaccine in the approval process, are expected to follow.
Whitmer said first to receive their shots will Michigan's "most vulnerable populations" -- including critical health care workers and first responders, before they become available to the general public.
Whitmer said, however, because no vaccine can end a pandemic immediately, "It's going to be important that we continue to wear masks for awhile."
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"A safe, effective vaccine is the strongest tool that we have against this virus, once it becomes available. That, and a mask," she stressed.
On Thursday, Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-193, creating the bipartisan Protect Michigan Commission within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to help raise awareness of the safety and effectiveness of an approved COVID-19 vaccine, and to help educate and help protect the health and safety of Michigan residents.
The Commission will be chaired by: Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II; Former Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley; Chief Medical Executive and DHHS Chief Deputy for Health Dr. Joneigh Khaldun; Detroit Pistons player Blake Griffin; Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH, FAAP, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and C.S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health; SER Metro CEO Eva Dewaelsche; Soumit Pendharkar, MHA, FACHE, Health Administrator for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians; Spectrum Health President & CEO Tina Freese-Decker; and Jamie Brown, Registered Nurse and President of the Michigan Nurses Association.
The commission will consist of at least 50 members that will represent the great diversity of the state, Whitmer said.
Interested in serving on the Protect Michigan Commission? Visit michigan.gov/appointments to apply by Dec. 28.
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