Thousands Receive Vaccine During Ford Field's Mass Clinic Soft Opening

(CBS DETROIT) - A giant step in the fight against COVID-19 has come to downtown Detroit as the state's first mass vaccination clinic opens to the public.

Todd Sinclair of West Bloomfield received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine Tuesday morning.

"Just excited to finally get a first dose and get back to normal, more normal life in the near future," said Sinclair.

Sinclair says the entire process went smooth, only taking about a half hour in total. This is what those running the clinic hopes will continue according to Troy Christensen, external affairs officer response division for FEMA Region V.

"This is the day that we are open to the public but at a reduced capacity compared to what we're going to be operating at a little bit later this week and of course for the weeks to come," said Christensen.

Christensen says 2,500 shots will be administered Tuesday and slightly more on Wednesday as FEMA and other organizations running the clinic prepare for the 6,000 per day shots that will be given. He says starting out slow will help them work out any kinks that may arise.

"We anticipate that there may be a bottle neck here or there and we want to make sure to resolve that before we open up to full capacity," said Christensen.

Christensen says the vaccine clinic at Ford Field is one of three mass vaccination sites in the country, and will operate seven days a week for the next eight weeks, totaling over 300,000 shots for Michiganders.

Appointments are necessary and is ran by Meijer and according to Sinclair, that process was also simple and easy.

"Yeah I did it online probably took about 2 minutes," he said.

Starting April 5, all Michigan residents age 16 and up will be eligible for a vaccine. Registration for Ford Field is now open to all in that category, Meijer says they will then call to schedule the appointment a few days before the person is eligible.

You can register at https://clinic.meijer.com/register/CL2021.

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