Gov. Whitmer: Michigan success in battling COVID-19 is ‘fragile’
(The Center Square) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday that demand for COVID-19 vaccines is outpacing the state’s current inventory and pushed state lawmakers to take action.
“It’s not nearly as fast as we all want,” she said, referring to the state’s vaccination efforts, “but we are clearly headed in the right direction,” she said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
The governor claimed Michigan has hit its target of 50,000 shots per day “a couple of times,” but acknowledged attaining her stated goal has been inconsistent. She said $5 billion in federal dollars was granted to Michigan in December, but Michigan legislators haven’t yet passed a supplemental bill to appropriate the money in the state.
“Delaying efforts to fully appropriate these resources and leaving dollars on the table that are so crucial to our economic recovery threatens the progress that we have made to date,” she said. “Congress did their part,” she said, referring to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, “now we need the state Legislature to do theirs.”
Whitmer added the supplemental budget to spend the federal COVID-19 relief money is what the state needs most.
“Without building on the momentum that we have created so far, by neglecting to get these federal dollars deployed through the Michigan COVID Recovery Plan we may fall on the priority list of supplies and as a result see a slowdown of our vaccination rates.”
The governor was referring to her $5.6 billion plan to reopen the state once the pandemic subsides. The Michigan House passed its own plan, which is approximately $3 billion – and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Stamas, R-Midland on Tuesday announced his own $2 billion plan.
Stamas’ plan prompted Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, to respond: “We must do better. We have $5 billion in COVID-19 relief funding from the federal government ready to go to support Michigan’s families, schools and communities,” he said in a statement.
“To withhold more than half of that is unnecessary,” Ananich added. “Senate Democrats don’t want one dollar of the relief funding to go to waste or to go unused, which is why our plan makes sure we utilize as much of it as possible before it gets caught up in Lansing’s political budget games.”
Whitmer wrapped up her prepared remarks by expressing her desire to return all Michigan students to in-person learning by March 1. “We know that in-person learning provides the key benefit for many parents to rely on children being in school so that they can go to work and fully participate in our economy. What’s more, many students and families have struggled with remote learning, and need opportunities for face-to-face interaction with educators,” she said.
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