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A few hundred University of Michigan medical professionals and
students who work in health care settings received their first
dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday at Michigan Stadium,
one of the nation's largest sporting venues.
Known as The Big House, the on-campus stadium welcomed
100,000-plus maize-and-blue-clad fans on fall Saturdays before
the pandemic.
``I am a lifelong University of Michigan football fan and come
to the stadium regularly for games, but have never been here in
this capacity before,'' said Dr. David Miller, chief
clinical officer at University Hospital and the
cardiovascular center.
The state reported more than 4,200 new virus cases Wednesday and
51 deaths. More than 12,000 Michigan residents have died since
March. The state has said it will not update it's virus case
numbers on Thursday or Friday—New Year's Day.
The rollout of vaccines started earlier this month across the
state.
The University of Michigan said its employees and students will
receive a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine dose at the football
stadium.
The Michigan Stadium clinic is not open to the public. Those who
visited on Thursday's opening day did so by appointment only and
fall into the vaccine priority group Phase 1A category.
Michigan Medicine
already has vaccinated thousands of health care workers.
``What became clear is that we needed first a venue with a lot
of space,'' Miller said. ``And the stadium met that need. And we
need a lot of space, because we need to be able to achieve
social distancing, both for the team members and community
members here to receive the vaccine, as well as for our
vaccination teams.''
As more vaccine doses become available, as many as 2,000
vaccinations a day could be administered at the Michigan Stadium
site.
Sara McCrea, a registered nurse from nearby Dexter who was
vaccinated at the stadium, said the entire process took only 10
minutes.
``It's been great. I got to come in and see this beautiful
building. Everybody here has been really friendly, very easy to
work with. The process is very quick. There's plenty of parking.
I'm happy,'' she said.
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