In two weeks, all Michigan residents over the age of 16 will be eligible to receive a COVID vaccine. As vaccine eligibility expands, the need for equitable access and distribution of vaccines continues.

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ (MDHHS) COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard, over 2 million Michigan residents have been vaccinated, which is approximately 26.3% of our state’s population.

When it comes to Michigan residents who have received one dose of the vaccine, 34.3% of the recipients are white, 3.4% are African Americans, 1.37% are Asian or Pacific Islanders, .7% are Hispanic and .37% are Native Americans. 

As CMF has shared, CMF members are working to support education and awareness around the vaccine in hopes of ensuring equitable access and distribution.

The Greater Flint Urgent Relief Fund, established by The Community Foundation of Greater Flint (CFGF), in partnership with the United Way of Genesee County, recently awarded funding to support the Community Health Navigator program. Launched by Michigan United, the program is aimed at educating and raising awareness of the vaccines to community members.

As Mlive reported, the program has trained 14 people from different areas of Flint to work as health navigators.

Program navigators reported that community members have shared experiencing difficulty with: 

• Registering for the vaccine.
• Accessing and using technology.
• Navigating language barriers.

The grant awarded by CFGF and the Greater Flint Urgent Relief Fund, will go towards the purchase of iPads to help register community members for the vaccine. 

The fund, in partnership with CFGF, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Ruth Mott Foundation, the United Way of Genesee County and donors, has allocated $1.5 million to the community which includes funding to support messaging health education information at the grassroots level to ensure equity in dispersing information to the most vulnerable populations.

“Working together, we will continue to focus on equitable grantmaking for short-term recovery during the COVID-19 global pandemic,” Isaiah Oliver, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and CMF trustee said.

As Michigan prepares to ramp up vaccine distribution in the coming weeks, a vaccination site has opened at Ford Field in Detroit. The goal for the site is to vaccinate 6,000 southeast Michigan residents a day through mid-May.

"This mass vaccination site will accelerate Michigan's efforts to reach its goal of vaccinating 70% of Michiganders ages 16 and older with the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine," Kerry Ebersole Singh, Protect Michigan Commission director said in a press release.

MDHHS and the Protect Michigan Commission awarded 35,800 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 22 pilot projects in an effort to help enhance the state's vaccine equity strategy.

According to the state’s press release, the goal of the pilot program is to help remove barriers to vaccine access for Michiganders 60 and older who live in communities with high Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) rates.

Kyle Caldwell, CMF’s president and CEO, serves on the commission along with other leaders from across the state.

Want more?

Read How Our Worst Health Crisis Can Lead to a New ─ and Better ─ Normal, an opinion piece published in Bridge Michigan by La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Ridgway White, president and CEO of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, co-chairs of CMF’s COVID-19 Working Group.

Read more about the Protect Michigan Commission pilot program.

Read more about the Greater Flint Urgent Relief Fund.

Is your organization supporting efforts connected to the education, access or distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine? We invite you to share your story with the CMF team so we can lift up opportunities for peer engagement and share emerging grantmaking practices with our entire CMF community.