12/21/20: 121K doses of vaccines on the horizon as new infections decline

Vaccines: Dual COVID-19 vaccines are making their way to Michigan. As of Sunday, more than 13,000 people have received their first dose of the vaccine developed by Pfizer. That comes as another vaccine, developed by Moderna, has gained emergency approval by the Food and Drug Administration and is on its way to Michigan repositories.

Michigan is expecting to receive almost 121,000 doses of the two vaccines by year’s end. That’s despite initial hiccups that have resulted in lower amounts than expected making it out to patients.

So far, nearly 119,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 21,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine have been distributed in Michigan.

Michigan: State health officials reported 4,551 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and Monday. That’s the lowest number of new infections since October 24. The seven day moving average is 3,631 new cases per day.

Meanwhile, average coronavirus deaths dropped slightly on Monday. The state reported 71 new deaths from the virus, bringing the average to 111 deaths per day for the past week. That’s still a high number, but less than the 114 average reported on Saturday.

Kalamazoo County: County health officials reported 212 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. That averages to about 70 new infections per day. The seven day moving average rose slightly to 81 new cases per day.

The county also reported nine deaths over the three day period. That brought the week average down to three deaths per day – lower than the pandemic high of 3.9 deaths per day last Wednesday, but still a high number by historical measure.

Hospitalizations: There were 3,179 people being treated for COVID-19 in Michigan hospitals on Monday. That’s 105 fewer than on Friday.

In Kalamazoo County, coronavirus hospitalizations remained stable. Bronson Methodist Hospital reported 36 COVID-19 patients on Monday, putting it at 97% capacity. Ascension Borgess Hospital reported 45 COVID-19 patients, putting it at 79% capacity. Both numbers are similar to where they’ve been for the past week.

Positivity Rates: The state and county positivity rates are both declining in a trend that suggests COVID-19 isn’t spreading as quickly as it did in November.

The state reported that 8.4% of coronavirus tests came back positive on Monday, while Kalamazoo County reported a positivity rate of 9.9%. The average positivity rate in both cases is the lowest its been in weeks, though higher than health officials would like it to be.