DETROIT (WOOD) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced details Thursday morning about the new COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic at Detroit’s Ford Field.
The site – one of the first of its kind in the country – was made possible by a joint effort between federal, state and local governments as well as a lot of private sector partners, including Ford Field, Meijer and the Henry Ford Health System.
During a Thursday morning news conference, Whitmer thanked all of those who are making the site possible, particularly the federal government that will be making hundreds of thousands of extra shots available in Michigan.
“This Ford Field site will administer 6,000 shots a day starting March 24 and will continue for eight weeks. That’s 6,000 extra shots per day totaling over 335,000 additional doses over the next eight weeks,” Whitmer said.
This site will build on the incredible process we are making statewide,” Whitmer said. “To date, over three million doses have been administered and that number is literally growing as we speak.”
The regional mass vaccination site at Ford Field will open on March 24. All Michiganders who are currently eligible to receive the vaccine can register for an appointment at Ford Field online.
In addition to administering shots at Ford Field, doses will be set aside for mobile sites throughout the region.
“Because of the task force’s work, 1,000 vaccine doses per day will be allocated from this site to mobile vaccine units that will literally take vaccines to people in communities throughout Southeast Michigan,” Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist shared during the press conference, noting work done by the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, which he chairs. “Gov. Whitmer and I are taking every step possible to make sure everyone who wants a vaccine in Michigan will have access to a vaccine without any hoops to jump through.”
Currently, six in 10 Michiganders ages 65 and older have been inoculated, Whitmer said. And one in four Michiganders age 16 and older have received their first doses, with the vaccination process continuing to ramp up.
Another presenter at the news conference said that at one point in March, 90,000 shots were administered in one day, which is a new record.
Whitmer urged Michiganders to register now and so they’re able to get vaccinated as soon as they’re eligible for the shot.
Starting March 22, people age 16 to 49 with certain medical conditions or disabilities will be qualified to get the vaccine. Then all residents age 16 and up will be eligible for the vaccine starting April 5.
More information about vaccination eligibility can be found on the state’s COVID-19 website.
Watch a replay of Thursday’s announcement at Ford Field below.
—News 8’s Lynsey Mukomel contributed to this report.
