Only 14% of Michigan residents are up-to-date on COVID booster shot

Only about 14% of Michiganders are up-to-date on their COVID-19 booster shots, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

That compares to 69% of Michigan residents who took at least one COVID shot at some point, per health department data. Only 38% of Michigan residents have obtained a vaccination and one booster. Fewer are up-to-date on COVID shots — 13.9%.

Michael Van Beek, the Mackinac Center’s director of research, called the one-shot statistic, the 69%, “meaningless.” 

“Getting the first shot was never the objective,” Van Beek told CapCon. “No one said it works with just one hit – you have to get the second shot in order for it to even stand a chance.”

Van Beek added: “The state and media highlight that statistic because it’s the biggest one they can find to suggest that a large majority support their vaccination effort.”

Van Beek said the number that matters more is 59%, which is how many Michiganders took two shots. 

“So right from the start, you have 40% of the population rejecting the official public health advice,” Van Beek said. “Then they said ‘get a booster,’ and 60% of the population rejected this advice. Now they say, ‘get a booster if you’re more than two months out from your second dose or first booster,’ and 85% of the population have rejected this advice...it demonstrates a lack of trust in public health officials."

The peak of booster uptake happened during the week ending Nov. 27, 2021, Thanksgiving week. Michiganders obtained 230,220 COVID booster shots then. After that high, the number fell to 11,079 given during the week of Sept. 3. Booster shot numbers went on a rebound after that, reaching 145,431 the week of Oct. 15.

In the week that ended Dec. 10, the number of booster shots administered was at 53,725, or 37% of what it was two months prior. During the same week in 2021, health care professionals administered 229,269 booster shots. That’s four times as high as today’s number.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment.