Genesee County aims to wipe out COVID-19 vaccine waiting list in 10 days – MLive.com

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- The county is expecting a dramatic increase in COVID-19 vaccines in coming weeks and wants to replace its waiting list with immediate appointments by the week of April 5.

Dr. Pamela Hackert, the countys medical health officer, told the county Board of Commissioners this week that while the Health Department has been receiving 6,000 vaccine doses in a typical week, the dose delivery has been as high 11,000 and said she expects availability to go up dramatically in the weeks ahead.

Pharmacies have also been ramping up vaccinations, cutting deeply into the waiting list, which has been as high as 50,000 but had dropped to about 5,500 as of Thursday, March 25.

The waiting list has also been dropping as the county removes individuals who have received shots elsewhere, according to the states vaccination database.

By the end of this week, Hackert said the department expects to have offered or attempted to offer COVID-19 vaccine shots to every county resident on the waiting list who is 65 or older or 50 or older with a pre-existing medical condition.

That effort will help to allow for elimination of the waiting list, she said, and a new process for making appointments.

Our goal is to really start to eliminate the pre-registration and by April 5, instead of (being added to the waiting list), when someone calls or goes online to sign up, they will at that time be offered an appointment, said Hackert.

Registration for vaccinations is currently open to anyone 40 or older regardless of health status and will open to those 30-39 years old regardless of health status on Monday, March 29. Vaccine sign-up expands to those 23-29 years old on Thursday, April 1, and to those 16-22 years old on April 5.

The website to pre-register for a vaccine from the health department is http://www.gc4me.com.

Senior citizens and those without computer access can also call local senior citizen centers or the Valley Area Agency on Aging at 810-600-0617 to register by phone.

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Genesee County aims to wipe out COVID-19 vaccine waiting list in 10 days - MLive.com