Oakland County Opens COVID-19 Vaccine Site At UWM Sports Complex

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI — Oakland County has opened a new, large-scale COVID-19 vaccination site at the UWM Sports Complex in Pontiac where county officials expect to vaccinate between 1,000 and 3,000 residents each day.

The opening of the site was announced Friday by Oakland County Dave Coulter, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pontiac Mayor Deirdre Waterman. The county health division began administering doses at the site by appointment Friday.

“Sites like these at the UWM Sports Complex are so vital to our efforts to get more than 1 million Oakland County residents vaccinated quickly and efficiently,” Coulter said in a statement announcing the site. “With more doses on the way to Michigan, we are continuing to accelerate our efforts to make a safe and effective vaccine available to all eligible residents.”

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The county said in a news release that providers have continued to make progress in administering the vaccine, noting that as of Wednesday more than 586,000 doses supplied by the state had been distributed in Oakland County. More than 36 percent of Oakland County residents 16 and up have received their first dose of the vaccine, and nearly 70 percent of older adults 65 years and older have received a first dose.

“This community vaccination site will help us hit our statewide target of 100,000 shots a day and is a testament to what we can do when we work together,” Whitmer said in a news release. “I am grateful to Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter and United Wholesale Mortgage for doing their part as we continue ramping up doses to hit our 100,000 shots per day target.

"While I know we can all see the light at the end of the tunnel, we have to remember that we’re still in the tunnel—the only way out is forward and together. I urge all Michiganders in Oakland County and statewide to get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible because the safe COVID-19 vaccines are the most effective way to protect you and your family and return to the normalcy we all crave.”

The Oakland County Health Division said it expects to vaccinate between 1,000 and 3,000 residents each day it uses the complex as a vaccination site. The complex has the capacity for up to 5,000 appointments a day.

For the first and second week at UWM Sports Complex, public health nurses will administer doses from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Ford Field supply to residents who live in communities with a high Social Vulnerability Index, according to the news release. In the weeks following, doses will come from the county’s state of Michigan allocation.

“We’re a company that believes in always doing what’s right for people, and in this case the people are those in and around Oakland County," said Laura Lawson, chief people officer at UWM. “We’re humbled to have the opportunity to share this space for such an important cause and will continue to do everything in our power to ensure we’re doing what’s right for our community.”

Oakland County will schedule appointments at UWM Sports Complex and its other vaccine sites by pulling names from the county’s Save Your Spot list. There were 225,000 registrations on the list as of Friday.

All Michigan residents 16 years and older became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.