Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and state health officials note a rise in cases and positivity rates, and worry about a new variant of the coronavirus as well as a possible post-holiday spike.
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 opens COVID vaccine to those 65 and older, other frontline workers
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defended the state’s uneven vaccine distribution program. The expanded list of people who can get vaccines starting next week includes police, teachers and others more at risk.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Thousands of Michigan health workers are turning down COVID vaccines
Some frontline health care workers and first responders are reluctant to take the vaccine, contributing to Michigan having one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the nation.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
COVID vaccines begin in Michigan. Will workers have to take them?
On Monday, a 46-year-old pulmonologist at Spectrum Health became the first Michigan recipient of a COVID-19 vaccine. Health leaders say broad vaccination is needed to protect society, but businesses, including hospitals, do not yet appear ready to require them of workers.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan releases more details about who gets COVID vaccine first
Distribution begins with 56 hospitals and 16 health departments throughout Michigan, while those in health care settings, essential workers and the elderly are first in line.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Need health insurance? Deadline is Dec. 15 for thousands in Michigan
An estimated 222,000 Michiganders lost employer-sponsored coverage in one four-month period this spring because of COVID-19, according to one report.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
COVID-19 vaccine nears approval. What Michigan needs to know.
Vaccines may be shipped soon from Pfizer’s Kalamazoo plant, as the vaccine nears final approval. Michigan is receiving more than 250,000 doses, and first priority goes to health care workers.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Gretchen Whitmer says Michigan COVID ‘pause’ will go at least 12 more days
The extension keeps bowling alleys, casinos and other businesses closed and bans indoor service at bars and restaurants while Whitmer again calls on the GOP Legislature for more unemployment aid and a mask mandate.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
A small Upper Peninsula hospital pleads: You’re our neighbors, help us
The number of COVID hospitalizations across Michigan fell four days straight, teasing hope even as dozens of hospitals remain at or near capacity. It’s “not sustainable,” according to a state hospital association, asking Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to continue pandemic orders.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Six things to know about the safety of the leading COVID vaccines
Dr. Arnold Monto of the University of Michigan chairs a national panel that will recommend whether to approve two vaccines for COVID-19 in the United States. He outlined what is known, and what isn’t, about the vaccines’ safety and reliability.