Grand Traverse County expanding vaccination efforts

(TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.) The COVID-19 vaccination effort will be expanding in Grand Traverse County starting Monday January 18th. On Friday, the Grand Traverse County Health Department announced a partnership with Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) that will launch another vaccination clinic. The clinic will be located at the Haggerty Center on NMC's Great Lakes campus and will take place through at least April. "This partnership with NMC will allow for the rapid expansion of the vaccination efforts in our community," said Wendy Hirschenberger, a Health officer for the Grand Traverse County Health Department. "We are excited to expand the availability for more people to get this life-saving vaccine. This is a highly complex and rapidly evolving process that takes incredible logistical coordination and patience from our communities." The Grand Traverse County Health Department has already distributed the vaccine to more than 2,000 people who fall under the Phase 1A category of distribution. That phase includes EMS workers, medical first responders, healthcare workers, and residents of long term care facilities. The process of offering the vaccine to everyone across the state of Michigan is expected to take 9 to 12 months. "COVID-19 is a community-wide challenge that will require a community-wide response," said Nick Nissley, the President of NMC. "We at NMC feel it is both our responsibility and our privilege to support this effort and keep our residents safe." Right now the Haggerty Center site will only be distributing vaccines to people who fall under Phase 1A or Phase 1B. Anyone in either of those two phases has to make an appointment to get their shot. Appointments can be scheduled at this website: https://gtcountycovid19.com/vaccine/.