Lifting Of Michigan COVID Rules Tied To Vaccination Rate: Whitmer

LANSING, MI — Michigan's path to completely reopening without COVID-19 restrictions will be directly tied to the state's ability to vaccinate its residents, with the timeline for when restrictions will be removed being contingent on the percentage of Michiganders who have received at least one dose of the vaccine, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday.

The governor announced the state's plan to tie the lifting of coronavirus restrictions to its vaccination rates Thursday during a news conference, noting that four benchmarks must be reached in order for Michigan to return to normal.

"While the daily case count, test positivity and hospitalization numbers are still not where we want them to be, we're headed in the right direction," Whitmer said at the news conference. "We've saving lives and keeping people out of the hospital. We'll continue to make progress toward putting this pandemic behind us if we follow basic public health protocols and get vaccinated."

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According to the plan announced Thursday, when 55 percent of people 16 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, all office work can resume in Michigan. When 60 percent of people have received the vaccine, capacity limits rise at banquet halls, conference centers, stadiums, funeral homes will be lifted.

Indoor capacity limits will be lifted once 65 percent of people have received at least one dose, according to the plan, while broad mitigation measures will be lifted once 70 percent of people have been vaccinated.

Whitmer did say, however, that the state could delay lifting indoor capacity limits in specific regions if case rates remain high in that respective location.

Michigan's first COVID-19 vaccine benchmark could be reached as soon as next week, Whitmer said, allowing office work to resume two weeks later.

"If we all do our part, I know we can get there together," she said.

The Michigan Republican Party released a statement shortly after Whitmer's announcement criticizing the governor, but the statement failed to touch on any specific aspect of the MI Vacc To Normal plan.

"Gov. Whitmer's refusal to re-open schools and lack of support for small businesses is causing permanent, irreparable harm to Michiganders," said Michigan GOP spokesman Ted Goodman. "Whitmer's incompetent pandemic response has followed the political science and we are demanding that she follows the actual science."

While the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in Michigan has increased each of the past three days, the numbers are significantly lower than what had been reported in recent weeks, according to state data.

As of Wednesday, Michigan has reported 833,891 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The coronavirus death toll in the state currently stands at 17,467, according to data provided by the MDHHS.

Health officials on Saturday said that 626,254 people in Michigan had recovered from the coronavirus as of Friday.