BLDHD COVID-19 Vaccine Update

What is the current status of the COVID-19 Vaccination process?    

By the end of today, the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department, with the help of our amazing partners, has administered 7,051 doses to our residents. We have held 37 clinics in nine different locations in Benzie and Leelanau County with the help of volunteers, Munson Healthcare, the Michigan National Guard, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Hometown Pharmacy, and Northwest Michigan Health Services, Inc.     

As of Monday, all COVID-19 vaccine-approved providers (hospitals, pharmacies, doctor offices, and health departments) have administered 14,032 COVID-19 vaccine doses to residents in Benzie and Leelanau Counties. Of those 14,032 doses, 9,119 were first doses and 4,913 were second doses (fully vaccinated).     

Who is eligible for the COVID-19 Vaccine? 

• Healthcare Workers 

• First Responders (EMS, Fire, Police) 

• Childcare Workers 

• K-12 School Employees 

• Corrections Staff 

• Long-term Care/Adult Foster Care/Assisted Living (Congregate Living) Staff and Residents 

• Individuals ages 50+ 

• Individuals 50+ with disabilities or underlying conditions 

• Caregiver family members and guardians aged 16 and over of children and adults with special health care needs 

• Food Processing and Agriculture Workers  

• U.S. Postal Service workers 

• Grocery Store Workers 

• Public Transit Workers 

• Utilities and Critical Manufacturing Workers 

• Other Front-line Workers who are essential to maintaining critical infrastructure, services, and functions who work must be performed on-site and within close proximity to others. 

This opens eligibility to a large portion of our residents and it will take time to get everyone who is interested scheduled and vaccinated with our weekly allocations. Please be patient as we are still prioritizing those 65 years old and older. We are still prioritizing the age group 65 and older as they are at highest risk for severe disease.  We are implementing new outreach strategies through mailings and partnerships with our senior services providers as well as establishing new relationships with local pharmacy partners to increase access to the vaccine in our counties.    

If you receive your vaccine from another provider and have signed up for our waiting list, we ask you to email covidvaccine@bldhd.org and let us know so we can take you off the waiting list. Thank you to everyone who has let us know in the last few weeks! 

With more approved COVID-19 vaccine providers and more vaccine being available, there is good progress happening as shown below through the percent of residents (16 and over) who have received their first dose:   

• Benzie- 20.0%,   

• Leelanau- 23.9%   

• Michigan- 17.3%    

• United States- 18.6%   

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 vaccine Dashboard provides coverage levels for each age group and below are the rates of those 65-74 years old and 75 years and older who have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine:    

• Benzie: 65-74 years old: 51.15% and 75 years and older: 55.16% have received their 1st dose. The average for all 65 years and older is 52.84% (2,530 1st doses administered/4,788 eligible individuals)  

• Leelanau: 65-74 years old: 54.78% and 75 years and older: 51.19% have received their 1st dose.  The average for all 65 years and older is 53.29% (3,707 1st doses administered/6,956 eligible individuals)  

• Michigan: 65-74 years old: 54.1% and 75 years and older: 56.7% have received their 1st dose.  

As of today, here is where we are currently:   

• Number of vaccine doses allocated for this week: 1050 doses (650 1st dose, 400- 2nd doses)  

• Number of vaccine doses administered so far this week: 552 doses  

• Total number of vaccine doses received: 7,569 doses  

• Total number of vaccine doses administered: 7,051 doses  

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