(WWJ) Some Michiganders waiting for their shots may have to wait a little longer.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday it's been notified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that, due to ongoing winter storm conditions in Kentucky and Tennessee, vaccine shipments this week continue to be delayed.
"We ask that Michiganders confirm their appointments prior to traveling and to have patience as providers seek to reschedule any appointments," said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health. "Unfortunately, distribution of the vaccine in this circumstance is simply out of our control. Vaccine providers across the state are working hard to get 70% of Michiganders age 16 and older vaccinated with the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible."
Late on Wednesday, the CDC provided an update about COVID-19 vaccine shipments in light of the ongoing winter storm conditions this week. This challenge is affecting vaccine shipments across the country.
Pfizer vaccine: Pfizer vaccines were not shipped out on Monday, Feb. 15 due to weather conditions. A limited number of Pfizer vaccine shipments are being processed this week.
Moderna vaccine: Severe weather impacted the McKesson distribution center in Memphis. Every aspect of distribution was impacted including air and ground transport, as well as work force, including personnel for packing and sorting vaccine. Moderna vaccines were not shipped on Monday, Feb. 15, Tuesday, Feb. 16 or Wednesday, Feb. 17 due to adverse weather conditions. CDC is working with McKesson and their shipping partners to resume operations as soon as the weather abates. They anticipate a significant back log of orders for distribution once operations resume and every effort will be made to catch up as soon as possible while safely delivering the vaccines.
Last week, a number of Moderna vaccine shipments were pulled back to the McKesson depots because they were unable to be delivered due to weather conditions. A small number of these shipments were repacked and sent out on Sunday for delivery on Monday, Feb. 15. For the remaining shipments, McKesson will be rescheduling vaccine deliveries once weather conditions allow shipments to resume.
As of Thursday evening, officials at MDHHS did not know if McKesson would be able to ship any Moderna orders for delivery on Friday.
The department will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as more information is learned.
Meanwhile, health officials reported 888 more confirmed coronavirus cases and 85 more related deaths in the state on Thursday. That includes 72 deaths that were discovered in a routine check of death certificates.
In all, Michigan has now seen over 578,000 confirmed cases of the virus since it was first detected in the state in March of last year, and there have been 15,273 associated deaths.
Some good news to report: On Wednesday, labs in Michigan tested over 32,000 samples for the virus and 928 were positive. That's a rate of 2.85%, which is lowest percentage since September 24, according to the health department.
The latest information about COVID-19 in Michigan available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus.
To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine — including how, when and where you can get your shot — visit Michigan.gov/COVIDVaccine.
