With the delta variant surging, the White House announced plans to make boosters broadly available by Sept. 20. We answer your questions about who can get them and when.
Robin Erb
Robin Erb covers a range of health issues in Michigan, including the industry of aging and the issues facing older residents in Michigan, a state that is aging faster than most others. She joined Bridge in 2019 and has led investigations that tracked millions of dollars in opioid settlement money and explored severe worker shortages in health care that threaten lives and the state's economy. She chronicled the shock and grief of Michigan families in COVID’s wake, as well as state policy decisions and the triumphs of medical breakthroughs. Robin previously spent six years covering health at the Detroit Free Press, documenting the battle over, and the eventual passage of, the Affordable Care Act and Michigan's Medicaid expansion. She studied communications and political science at Miami University and has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Lourdes University (Toledo, Ohio). She and her husband raised two wonderful children — but have failed miserably at training their Beagle-Bassets — in southeast Michigan. Reach her at rerb@bridgemi.com.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan GOP eyes limits to vaccine, mask rules. Health officials dismayed
A bill would allow employees to sue if they’re fired for refusing vaccines, while Republican leaders want activists to fight school mask rules.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan recommends masks for businesses, as fears rise of fourth COVID wave
Two months after the state’s workplace safety regulators dropped most COVID-19 restrictions, they’re once “strongly’ encouraging masks but not mandating them.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Toilet water is fouling Michigan’s water. State eyes loans to fix septics.
Public health advocates and bipartisan lawmakers are advocating for new funding to fix the failing septics that leech fecal bacteria, viruses and toxins into Michigan’s waterways.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan schools must teach in-person, get waiver, or lose funding
Even as COVID cases increase, online-only learning won’t be an easy option for schools this year. The policy shift was agreed to by the GOP legislature and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan’s top doc: COVID vaccines aren’t just about protecting you
Michigan doesn’t plan a vaccine mandate, said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state’s chief medical executive, as she joined the mother of a dead child and others to call on Michiganders to think of others when it comes to safety practices and vaccines.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Protesters gather at Michigan Capitol to protest COVID vaccine mandates
As pressure increases on businesses, schools and universities and governments to take stronger action, Friday’s crowd in Lansing said vaccine mandates go too far.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
CDC raises Michigan COVID risk level: Why it matters, and why it may not
Cases remain low compared to pandemic peaks, but their uptick has returned many counties to higher risk levels and placed most Michigan residents under indoor masking recommendations and an eviction moratorium.
Posted inTalent & Education
Gov. Whitmer urges Michigan schools to mask up, stops short of mandate
Decisions on whether masks will be required in classrooms this fall will be left up to local districts, despite CDC and state pleas for them to mask up.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Vaccine mandates increase among Michigan employers. What you need to know.
Yes, they can ask. They can even require shots. You can refuse. But don’t be surprised if you’re fired.