DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is asking the 128,000 vaccinated Detroiters to reach out to neighbors in their communities and help encourage more residents to get vaccinated.
"Our lower vaccine rate is leaving our neighbors vulnerable in just a terrible way," said Duggan, noting Detroit's current vaccination rate is 25% compared to Oakland County at 48%.
Duggan held a press conference Wednesday to discuss the troubling rise of COVID cases within the city. He said 419 Detroiters are hospitalized right now with COVID-19 and 79 individuals are currently on a ventilator. Duggan said Detroit is at a 21% infection rate.
"It’s going to get worse, I can just tell you mathematically looking at what’s happened," he said.
He said the city lost 22 Detroiters in the first 10 days of April, reporting that 19 were African American.
Duggan continues to ask Detroit residents to pick up the phone to make an appointment, and is asking vaccinated individuals to help encourage others. Eligible residents can call 313-230-0505 to schedule their vaccine appointment today. The City of Detroit is offering a variety of site options for people, including $2 or free rides if needed.
Duggan said residents can also now text their address to 313-217-3732 and they will be notified of the vaccine locations closest to them.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.
Visit our The Rebound Detroit, a place where we are working to help people impacted financially from the coronavirus. We have all the information on everything available to help you through this crisis and how to access it.