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Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan addresses COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy as cases climb

By and FOX 2 Staff
Published  April 14, 2021 5:13pm EDT
Detroit
FOX 2 Detroit

Detroit moves to vaccinate more people through more information

The city of Detroit is working to vaccinate more people against the COVID-19 vaccine by making sure accurate information is being made available to everyone.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Michigan's COVID-19 cases are the highest in the nation and in the state's largest city, vaccination rates are alarmingly low. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is unveiling a plan to address the fears about the COVID-19 vaccine to make it easier for residents to get vaccinated.

Duggan said the major obstacle to Detroiters and all of Michigan is vaccine hesitancy and says there too much false information that people are using to determine whether or not to get the vaccine.

"Every single Detroiter 60 and up can get vaccinated tomorrow with one phone call," Duggan said. "Right now, our biggest enemy is a lack of information and misinformation."

The city said they're seeing 700 more people test positive each day. Meanwhile, north of 8 Mile, it's a different story in Oakland and Macomb Counties.

"The extremely low infection rates in Oakland County and Washtenaw County are tied to high vaccination rates of those communities," Duggan said.

In an attempt to increase vaccine awareness, the city is inviting residents to virtual town halls for information.

"All these town halls will have medical doctors there to answer your questions so please do tune in tonight as well as tonight," said Detroit's Chief Public Health Officer Denise Fair.

The city is also hoping to use those who have received the vaccine to help spread the good word to erase vaccine fears.

"We need 128,000 of you who have been vaccinated to reach out to somebody who hasn't," Duggan said.

The city is adding vaccine walk-up clinics to its strategy and Duggan also said the city is looking at possible incentives to push people to get the vaccine.

"I appreciate the generosity of another of companies who have come forward saying they'd be open to giving away some incentives," Duggan said.

Duggan said the Johnson & Johnson pause will not affect the city's rollout efforts and says supply is not the issue, now he just needs the demand from more residents.

"If the worst problem I have is too many people getting vaccinated, we'll deal with it," Duggan said.