3/2/21: Half-million vaccine doses on the way

Vaccines: The state is gearing up for an influx of new vaccine supplies this week.

Michigan is expecting to receive 492,040 doses of COVID-19 vaccines sometime this week, which is a significant increase over recent weekly shipments. The state typically received around 200,000 doses per week during the month of February.

The shipment could include more than 82,000 doses of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which only requires one dose to be effective.

Vaccination efforts have ramped up in the past week, with the state averaging more than 47,000 inoculations per day as of Sunday. So far, more than 824,000 people have been fully vaccinated in Michigan.

Kalamazoo County’s vaccination rates have also risen dramatically. Over the weekend, facilities in the county administered 3,126 doses of the vaccine, raising the seven day average to a record 1,849 shots per day.

So far, 26,022 people have been fully inoculated against the coronavirus in Kalamazoo County.

Michigan: Average new infection numbers rose in Michigan for the tenth day in a row.

State health officials reported 1,569 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and Monday. That pushed the seven day moving average up to 1,107 new cases per day.

New deaths are beginning to tick upward as well. The state reported 12 new deaths on Sunday and Monday, but the seven day average rose slightly to 24.6 deaths per day.

Despite rising numbers, the state’s positivity rate has remained mostly flat for over a week. In the week ending Sunday, about 3.56% of COVID-19 tests returned positive results indicating that the spread of the coronavirus isn’t as out-of-hand as new infection numbers might suggest.

Kalamazoo County: New infection numbers and positivity rates are both rising in Kalamazoo County, suggesting that the spread of the coronavirus might be getting out of hand here.

County officials reported 73 new cases of COVID-19 across Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The pushed the seven day average up to 32.4 new cases per day. The average of new infections has been rising steadily for almost two weeks.

The county reported one new death from the coronavirus over the weekend. However, the average of new deaths remained steady at 0.3 deaths per day.

But the rising positivity rate in the county is a real cause for concern. In the week ending Sunday, 6.1% of coronavirus tests returned a positive result. The positivity rate in the county has been rising steadily since reaching a low of 3.19% on Valentine’s Day.