Opportunities for jobs, education and vaccines provide highlights in Duggan's State of the City

DETROIT (FOX 2) - More Detroiters will have a shot to get the shot.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced at his State of the City address that the Northwest Activities Center will administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine starting March 22nd.  The mayor received a lot of criticism last week for his comments about the vaccine and his initial decision to turn down a shipment of more than 6,000 doses of it. 

"I know I said some things about Johnson & Johnson, it was my fault for not having done more research than I should have," Duggan said. "After having done that research, it is obvious that the record Johnson & Johnson has, at the height of the pandemic and operating in South America and South Africa, and Britain, that it is a highly effective shot." 

The mayor says every Detroiter 50 and older will be eligible to get the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer vaccines later this month. He expects anyone to be eligible to receive it by May.

Duggan's address focused heavily on opportunities for all Detroiters, outlining his efforts to bring more jobs to the city and breaking barriers many Black residents face in actually landing those jobs.

In line with that effort, Duggan revealed more details about his People Plan. It is a proposal to raise $50 million from the philanthropic community to break cycles of generational poverty.

"First, is the Community Health Corps, where we go into the homes of families in extreme poverty, Deputy Mayor Conrad Mallett is leading this to help people get back on their feet," Duggan said. "High school completion, we know a lot of people who dropped out of high school. They'll get paid to learn a trade. And a program that has been dear to me, and I have spent a lot of time on it, Friends and Family, which are young men oftentimes in gang activity involving violence and when you sit with them, what you see are smart people who don't want to spend the rest of their lives doing this."

The mayor delivered his address virtually at the Mack Jeep Assembly Plant on the city's east side. The plant employs a number of Detroiters thanks to Duggan's Detroit at Work Program - in which residents are given priority for jobs.

"The first 2,100 jobs offered at this plant are filled by Detroiters," Duggan said. "And they are about to go across the street and put a billion dollars into the Jefferson North Plant and they are going to hire another 1,000 Detroiters."

Other talking points included a permanent moratorium on water shutoffs in the city and securing $100 million for rental assistance to allow residents to stay in their homes.