Whitmer: Biden increases Michigan's vaccine allocation amid rising infections

Lansing — President Joe Biden's administration is increasing Michigan's vaccine allocation next week amid rising COVID-19 cases in the state, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office announced Tuesday evening.

The White House has assigned 66,020 additional doses for Michigan's shipment next week, putting the total at 620,040, a record high, according to the governor's office. The action follows requests from Whitmer to the Biden administration for more vaccines to help mitigate climbing infection rates, the office said.

"I’m so grateful to have a partner in the White House that has our backs here in Michigan," Whitmer said. "We know that the COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective at preventing COVID-19. These additional doses of the safe, effective vaccines will help us slow the spread of the virus, return to normalcy, and continue building our economy back better."

Michigan's new case rates and the percentage of tests bringing positive results have been steadily climbing for five weeks after declining in January and February. Michigan now ranks behind only New York City for new cases per population over the last seven days, according to tracking by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last week, the state reported 27,758 new cases, a 14-week high, and an 11.3% positivity rate, a 15-week high.

As of Monday, 2.7 million Michigan residents, 33% of the adult population, had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 1.6 million residents, 20% of the adult population, had received their full vaccination.

cmauger@detroitnews.com