The first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will arrive in Traverse City this week, with several thousand local healthcare workers expected to receive vaccinations in the coming days and weeks. What’s next for the rest of the public, and will the vaccine be mandated by some employers? The Ticker heard from northern Michigan health officials to learn more.

COVID-19 vaccinations officially began in Michigan on Monday when the Pfizer vaccine was administered to frontline healthcare workers at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor and Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids.

According to Dr. Christine Nefcy, Munson’s chief medical officer, Munson had “not yet received any vaccine at any of our Munson Healthcare entities” as of Tuesday morning, but is expecting a shipment of 2,925 doses of the Pfizer vaccine yet this week. Nefcy adds that the first doses of the vaccine would likely be administered to Munson Healthcare workers beginning Friday.

Other healthcare entities throughout the region are also expecting to receive their first shipments of the vaccine in the coming days, including 975 Pfizer doses each to the Grand Traverse County Health Department (GTCHD) and the Health Department of Northwest Michigan (which includes Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet, and Otsego counties). District Health Department #10 (which services Crawford, Kalkaska, Lake, Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Missaukee, Newaygo, Oceana, and Wexford counties) expects to receive an “unknown” number of Moderna vaccine doses sometime next week. The Moderna vaccine, though not officially approved yet, will reportedly receive its emergency use authorization from the FDA as early as Friday.

The next step for local healthcare organizations will be prioritizing who gets it first; much of that prioritization has already been defined by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), which itself is following the phased vaccination plan devised by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Phase 1A targets “paid and unpaid persons serving in healthcare settings who have direct or indirect exposure to patients or infectious materials and are unable to work from home, as well as residents of long-term care facilities.” Munson Healthcare will be offering its first doses of the vaccine to emergency departments, urgent care clinics, COVID-19 and ICU units within its hospitals, long-term care workers and residents, phlebotomists, and employees working in respiratory therapy or housekeeping/environmental services (EVS).

Particularly in the early weeks and months of the vaccination process, when vaccine doses are still in short supply, Munson Healthcare and local health departments will collaborate closely to determine the highest priority areas for vaccine allocation.

PHOTO CREDIT: Detroit Free Press

“We’re all waiting to see what the cadence of the vaccine distribution will be,” said GTCHD Health Officer Wendy Hirschenberger during a Tuesday press conference. “We will all be working closely together to assess as we go and ensure that we're working at a similar pace and tackling priority groups as [vaccine doses] roll out.”

One complicating factor for the rollout is that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses spaced several weeks apart. Nefcy indicates that Munson is expecting a second shipment of 2,925 doses “in the next three weeks,” which would mean that the organization doesn’t need to hold back half of this week’s shipment for use as second doses. Still, the double-dose requirement for both vaccines will slow the vaccination process and could mean a longer road toward herd immunity.

Lisa Peacock, health officer for the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department and the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, said that there is no “exact answer” for when a COVID vaccine may be available to the general public, but noted that the MDHHS has estimated a 20-week timeline to get through priority vaccination groups. Beyond Phase 1A, the CDC vaccination plan also includes a Phase 1B (school and childcare staff, workers in healthcare labs and mortuaries, workers in “essential and critical industries”) and a Phase 1C (individuals 65 years of age or older, or those under 65 with high-risk conditions such as COPD, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity). Phase 2 will be a mass campaign to vaccinate the general public.
Nefcy notes that, due in part to vaccine scarcity, Munson Healthcare has “no current plans to mandate the vaccine” for its employees.

“I'd say that would be relatively irresponsible [to have a mandate], given the fact that we don't have enough vaccine to give everyone at this point,” Nefcy says. “We are, however, highly encouraging all of our healthcare providers – who are all at a bit higher risk given the work that they do – to receive the vaccine, if they want to.”

James Walker, a Munson union nurse who works as part of the Munson Medical Center COVID unit and serves as a board member for the Michigan Nurses Association, doesn’t expect that many Munson employees will be against getting the vaccine.

“[MNA’s] position is that any vaccine must meet the highest test of public safety and undergo full scientific evaluation,” Walker tells The Ticker. “These vaccines did. The science is strong behind these vaccines. While the Pfizer one was developed in less than a year, you have to appreciate that the science behind it isn’t new. COVID-19 is SARS-CoV-2; in the early 2000s, there was the SARS outbreak, and that was SARS-CoV. Research was done to develop vaccines around that, and it’s a very similar concept [to COVID-19]. So while this vaccine was approved for emergency use authorization, its efficacy rates are amazing. It’s 95 percent effective on those that received the vaccine, versus placebo. We don’t feel it should be obligatory by healthcare organizations, and it won’t be; and we would recommend that people speak to their healthcare providers if they have concerns.”