ADRIAN, Mich. – The Lenawee County Health Department (LCHD) and the Michigan National Guard are administering an average of 1,500 COVID-19 vaccinations a week at the Lenawee County Fairgrounds.
Task Force Red Lion, the COVID-19 response task force assembled by the MING to support vaccination efforts in southeast Michigan, assigned seven MING COVID-19 Testing Teams (CVTT) to the effort. Each team includes one combat medic and two administrative personnel. Vaccinators, assistants and post-vaccination observers help keep the process flowing.
"Task Force Red Lion is assisting counties from Saginaw down to the southern state border and has assisted in vaccinating over 220,000 residents," said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Emanuel Mosley, noncommissioned officer in charge (NCOIC) of the 119th Field Artillery Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Lansing, and NCOIC for Task Force Red Lion. "We are maximizing the distribution of the vaccine as it comes available to the state's communities, and the Lenawee County Fairground clinic is one of the largest clinics we have deployed."
The clinic at the fairgrounds is running well thanks to MING, Lenawee County Emergency Management Coordinator Craig Tanis said.
"The clinic is averaging 300 doses each hour, and the CVTT medics administering the vaccine and the assistants updating the Michigan Care Improvement Registry are essential to the success of our clinics," Tanis said.
As of March 22, those eligible to be vaccinated in Michigan include anybody 50 and older and people at least 16 years old who have disabilities and/or medical conditions. Their family caregivers and guardians can also get the vaccine.
"These events will expand as the state's prioritization of the vaccine allocation within CDC's phases expands to larger groups of the population," said U.S. Army Capt. Christopher Hebert, company commander, 1073rd Maintenance Company, Michigan Army National Guard. "We are constantly reassessing our plans to meet the needs of the state's health departments, and we are a big part of MING's efforts to vaccinate Michigan residents and lessen the impact of the coronavirus pandemic."