Sterling Heights to use firefighters as vaccine administrators

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – City officials have applied for a certification through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to use Sterling Heights firefighters and paramedics as vaccine administrators at the old Sears Service Center drive-through facility.

This vaccination spot is expected to begin operation in early April once there is enough staff and vaccinations ready. Due to its prime location in one of the busiest areas of the city, thousands of city residents are expected to receive their vaccinations here.

Long-time members of the community like 62-year-old retired insurance agent Karen Greene are thrilled to have a vaccination center opening so close to home.

“Having this service offered in our community will certainly help our little part of the planet to become resistant to COVID-19 sooner rather than later,” Greene said.

According to Interim Fire Chief Edwin Miller, the city’s firefighters have the skills, the training, and the ability to assist with the vaccination process.

All firefighters have completed a training called community risk reduction. In the past, it was usually only considered as fire-related circumstances, but in the world’s current climate, COVID-19 is a huge part of the community risk.

“It has been a learning curve, we’ve been through many different emergency medical protocol changes from the county and from the state to deal with this,” Miller said. “But things have stabilized. The numbers are going in the right direction and the vaccines are going to get us over the hump that will help us get to a healthy state again.”

Out of the 132,476 members of the Sterling Heights community, there is an anticipated demand of about 80,000 city residents 17 years and older who plan to receive the vaccination at this site in the second phase of the state of Michigan’s vaccination plan, according to City Manager Mark Vanderpool. With a total of 59,726 cases in Macomb county and 1,976 deaths, residents of Sterling Heights seem eager to get vaccinated, according to city officials.

“We are very confident that we are going to beat the national goal of 70% of our citizens getting vaccinated,” said Vanderpool. “We are playing an important role and are expecting to vaccinate thousands of people every week. That is our goal to get our residents through this.”

According to the Michigan.gov website, the state of Michigan has recorded 598,968 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 15,699 deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the nation has also endured 28.94 million cases and 524,695 deaths as of March 9, 2021. 

Having a vaccination facility like the old Sears center has made residents hopeful that there will be a continued downward slope on the scale of COVID-19 cases. City Council members have worked hard to negotiate the renting of the Sears property and are excited to have things finally set in motion, according to Councilman Michael Radtke.

“I was proud of the city and Sears working together for the betterment of the entire community,” said Radtke. “I think we are leading the way in helping our residents, and the entire community, access the vaccine.”