LANSING — Governor Whitmer has joined several other state governors to call on the federal government to release millions of COVID-19 vaccines held back by the Trump administration for unknown reasons.

Whitmer joined Gavin Newsom (CA), Laura Kelly (KS), J.B. Pritzker (IL), Tim Walz (MN), Andrew Cuomo (NY), Tony Evers (WI) and Jay Inslee (WA) in sending a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Operation Warp Speed Chief Operating Officer General Gustave Perna requesting that those doses be released.

According to publicly reported information, the federal government currently has upwards of 50 percent of currently produced vaccines held back by the administration.

If the federal government releases those doses, Whitmer’s administration has developed a plan to get 50,000 vaccines in Michiganders’ arms daily.

To date, the state has administered more than 150,000 doses of the vaccine, with distributions beginning with frontline health workers and skilled nursing home residents and staff in December.

On Monday, Jan. 11, the state will begin offering vaccine to Michiganders age 65 and older, preK-12 educators, support staff and childcare providers and frontline essential workers, including police officers, first responders, frontline state and federal workers and jail and prison staff. Some seniors in select counties can already make appointments or check the state’s COVID-19 vaccine website at  to see if they are available at their local health facilities.