What infrastructure do we need to vaccinate 70 percent of Michiganders by 2021, expert explains

SOUTHFIELD, MIch. - With a COVID-19 vaccine expected to be distributed across the country, FOX 2’s Hilary Golston sat down with COO of Ixlayer, Poorya Sabounchi, to discuss this. Sabounchi specializes in technical and logistical support for testing and vaccine distribution for more than 300 organizations in the country. 

With his level expertise, during the interview- Golston first asked Sabounchi about the COVID-19 vaccine distribution here in Michigan. Michigan Health officials have set a goal of vaccinating 70% of Michiganders 18 of age or older, which equates to 5.4 million adults, by the end of 2021. 

Since this has never been done, Sabounchi says there needs to be specific coordination in place before trying to tackle this goal. 

“We need coordination between the administrators who want to vaccine people, and also coordination from the patients being vaccinated, not just for the first dose but for the second dose, is critical,” he said. 

Sabounchi went on to say the coordination looks like a platform, where there are surveys and constant follow ups with the people who have taken the vaccine. 

In its initial allotment, Michigan is expected to get more than 84,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and about 173,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine - each one requires 2 doses to be fully effective. With that being said and the subsequent allotments being unknown, should those who have already been vaccinated get their second shot before moving on? Sabounchi says before moving on, you may want to wait until there is enough supplies because studies show the first dose is not fully effective.

Lastly, Sabounchi was asked about some of the challenges that may occur when it comes to actually delivering and getting the vaccine to its final destination. Sabounchi said a huge challenge that may come to surface deals with organization and making sure what people are in top priority to get the vaccine. He said the last thing medical experts want to happen is tons and tons of people lined up to get the vaccine at one time. This all goes back to coordination between administrators and patients, he said. 

Watch full interview above.