LANSING — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has been notified of delays in shipments due to winter weather.

With extreme winter weather throughout the country, including Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky, the CDC has said that vaccine shipments coming in are continuing to be delayed.

“We ask that Michiganders confirm their appointments prior to traveling and to have patience as providers seek to reschedule any appointments,” Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said.  “Unfortunately, distribution of the vaccine in this circumstance is simply out of our control. Vaccine providers across the state are working hard to get 70 percent of Michiganders age 16 and older vaccinated with the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible.”

Despite the vaccine delays, Oakland County is reporting that it has administered 99 percent of its vaccines.

County Executive Dave Coulter said the county is working to administer more doses as supplies come in, but it has used nearly every dose provided.

“We’ve already vaccinated more than 41,000 people and have administered 99.9 percent of the doses that the state has allocated to us,” Coulter said. “But we’re ready and anxious for the time when that number jumps dramatically. We’re also excited that our new president, Joe Biden, has chosen Michigan as one of the first stops he makes outside of the nation’s Capitol Friday. We hope his visit to the Pfizer facility in Kalamazoo, where the first COVID vaccines were produced, is a sign that we’re on the cusp of a substantial increase in the number of doses coming into the county, the state and the nation.”

With the ongoing winter weather conditions, vaccine allocation across the country has been struggling.

According to the CDC, Pfizer vaccines were not shipped out on Monday, Feb. 15 due to weather and a limited number of Pfizer vaccines are being processed.

For the Moderna vaccine, severe weather impacted the McKesson distribution center in Memphis and all aspects of distribution were impacted. 

As a result, the Moderna vaccine has not been shipped throughout the week and the company is anticipating a severe backlog of orders once operations resume.

The MDHHS is continuing to monitor the situation.