The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky called on the state of Michigan to “close things down” due to the surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, informed The Hill.
As immunization takes two to six weeks to affect COVID-19 statistics, Walensky addressed the high numbers of coronavirus cases and said that the problem in the state won’t be solved by sending it more vaccines.
The number of cases in Michigan is much higher compared to other states, and has risen seven times since its lowest point in February. According to The New York Times, the current seven-day average in cases is 7,377 and 3,570 in hospitalizations.
“When you have acute situation, an extraordinary number of cases like we have in Michigan, the answer is not necessarily to give vaccines – in fact we know the vaccine will have delayed response,” said Walensky.
“The answer to that is to really close things down, to go back to our basics, to go back to where we were last spring, last summer … to flatten the curve, decrease contact with one another, to test to the extent we have available, to contact trace,” she said during a briefing of the White House COVID-19 response team.
“If we tried to vaccinate our way out of what is happening in Michigan, we’d be disappointed that it took so long for the vaccine to work, to actually have the impact,” she added.
The coordinator of the White House COVID-19 response team, Jeff Zients pointed that the federal officials don’t know where and when the next outbreak will be, and by sending more vaccines to Michigan, they may face a situation of lack of vaccines for other states that may be affected by surges in the upcoming period.
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