Skip to Main
Covid 19

Munson Healthcare Provides Update on Vaccine Rollout to the Region

9&10 Logo

Munson Healthcare has now vaccinated more that 5,000 team members with the Coronavirus vaccine. Munson is still vaccinating those people in priority Tier 1a – that includes healthcare personnel and long term care residents.

In a weekly news conference, Munson also says more than 51% of eligible employees and providers have now been vaccinated (or scheduled) for their first dose. They acknowledges that some are choosing not to get the vaccine.

Dr. Christine Nefcy is Munson Healthcare’s Chief Medical Officer. She says, “Many of our service people who are working from home and that kind of thing have declined getting the vaccine, so they can leave it for other people who are working the front line. We certainly have certain segments of our population, maybe our pregnant or breastfeeding women who are hesitant to take it.”

Priority Groups

The next priority group will be adults 75 and older and some essential workers: including those in education, police and firefighters, and agriculture workers. Dr. Nefcy says, “One of the logistical considerations for this, is we are scheduling people for the vaccine (once) we know we are getting vaccine. One of our limiting factors is knowing when we will get vaccine and how much vaccine we will get. The state has been doing a remarkable job working with us… they are limited as the vaccine is distributed at a federal level.”

As northern Michigan waits for delivery of additional vaccine, there has been nationwide concern with the pace of vaccine distribution. Dr. Nefcy says Munson is pleased with the efforts locally and regionally. “This isn’t like a drive-thru flu shot vaccine. We have to schedule a second dose. We want to monitor these people for 15 minutes. There’s a lot of different nuance with this vaccine than with typical vaccines. That scheduling piece is difficult when we don’t know how much vaccine we’re getting. So there’s a little bit of a dance… a balance we’re trying to figure out. Overall our vaccine clinics have been running exceedingly well. They’re incredibly efficient. People have been getting in and out very quickly.”

Dr. Nefcy says as Munson receives more vaccine they will expand the access to the other tiers.

9&10 Logo

Local Trending News