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Munson Healthcare says they don't have enough vaccine to meet demand

Courtesy cidrap.umn.edu

Local health departments are fielding hundreds of calls and emails as residents try to make their appointments to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Many will have to wait because there aren’t enough doses to meet demand.

During a virtual news conference Tuesday, Munson officials said it could be a while before its patients 65 and older can get a COVID vaccine. They say the infrastructure for administering doses is ready.

But health departments and hospitals aren’t getting enough of the vaccine to meet demand from the many seniors that live in the area.

The state sent less than a quarter of doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines local officials requested.

Here’s Munson’s Chief Medical Officer Christine Nefcy.

“We got less than a thousand this week for the vaccine. And we’ve been told we won’t receive more of the Moderna vaccine until the end of the month. What we request and what we want to get out is not always the same as what we receive.”

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says the federal government is responsible for the delays. She says the incoming Biden administration has committed to send more doses.