Michigan's Pfizer Vaccine Allotment Cut, But No One Knows Why

MICHIGAN — The allotment of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Michigan was expecting next week is being reduced, and so far, no one is sure why.

The state initially said it was told by federal officials it would receive 84,000 doses of the vaccine next week, but now state health officials are saying that the number of doses is being cut to around 60,000. Officials previously said the state was expecting "several hundred thousand doses" of the vaccine before the end of the year.

Lynn Sutfin, a spokesperson with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said the state learned of the reduction Wednesday but noted that the number of doses provided to each state was subject to change.

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"We learned late yesterday that we will be receiving 60,000 doses of Pfizer next week," Sutfin said in an email to Patch Thursday. "This is less than we were expecting to receive. We have always said the allocations were subject to change."

In a news release issued Thursday, Pfizer officials said the decrease is not due to an issue on the part of Pfizer.

"Pfizer has not had any production issues with our COVID-19 vaccine, and no shipments containing the vaccine are on hold or delayed," a company spokesperson said. "This week, we successfully shipped all 2.9 million doses that we were asked to ship by the U.S. Government to the locations specified to them. We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses."

The news about Michigan's vaccine dosage being cut was first reported by Crain's Detroit.

Other states, such as Washington, have seen cuts by as much as 40 percent.

Michigan health officials have set a goal of vaccinating 70 percent of Michiganders 18 years of age or older, about 5.4 million adults, by the end of 2021. It is not clear if the reduction learned of Thursday will cut into that goal.

Read More: Michigan Creates Coronavirus Vaccine Commission

Health officials in Michigan said the state is following the CDC recommendations for prioritization of distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines.

Distribution of the vaccine will be in a phased approach, the state said, with an emphasis on both ensuring the continuing functioning of the health care system and essential services in the community and protecting people at increased risk for severe COVID-19 illness.

Michigan saw its first COVID-19 vaccines administered shortly after noon on Monday at Michigan Medicine and Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, according to state health officials.