Governor Gretchen Whitmer received her first COVID-19 shot Tuesday as she launched an effort to encourage the people who are the most skeptical, hesitant, or difficult to reach to get vaccinated.
“I’m done. That’s it,” Whitmer said once she’d been given an injection of the made-in-Michigan Pfizer vaccine at the mass vaccine site at Ford Field in Detroit. “…I feel good. I feel relieved, to be honest.”
The public event launched an effort to encourage people who are the most skeptical, hesitant, or difficult to reach to get vaccinated.
To help deliver that message, Whitmer was joined by her 19-year-old daughter, Sherry Shrewsbury. The needle was handled by Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan’s Chief Medical Executive.
Whitmer acknowledged that Michigan’s COVID numbers have taken a turn for the worse. Michigan is fighting a surge in COVID cases, including variants that are more easily spread. “The only way out is if we work together and everyone does their part,” she said, “and that means continuing to mask up, washing our hands, social distancing, and, crucially, getting vaccinated as soon as you can.”
Whitmer and Khaldun both said they’re concerned about what might happen during and after spring break travels by families and students that could fuel COVID spread and outbreaks.
