DEARBORN — With more vaccines beginning to be distributed and provided to the state, residents who qualify for the vaccine are being provided more options to get it.

Dearborn’s vaccination center has added more appointments as well as opening appointments to those who are 50 and older with medical conditions or disabilities.

The vaccine appointments were extended into the week of March 15-19 for all who qualify in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Allen Park, Inkster, Garden City, Redford and Melvindale.

The vaccination clinic offers appointments from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., but on March 18, the hours will be extended until 8 p.m.

Vaccines are administered by the Dearborn Fire Department at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center at 15801 Michigan Ave.

The Moderna vaccine is being distributed and on March 18 and 19 the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will also be available.

Appointments are required and can be made at www.cityofdearborn.org/covid. 

Masks are required at all times. Patients must have I.D. and will be screened at the door.

In addition to the clinic at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, the Islamic Center of America has collaborated with Henry Ford Health Systems on March 8, where they vaccinated 300 community members.

Vaccines will be continuing every Monday by appointment only for individuals over the age of 50 who qualify.

For appointments and information, residents are encouraged to call 313-593-0000.

ACCESS of Dearborn recently announced a partnership with Meijer Pharmacy and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to host a Dearborn vaccination clinic on March 11 at their facility.

Christie Laster, a senior community liaison with Blue Cross Blue Shield, said Blue Cross chose to partner with ACCESS because of the community aspect.

“We wanted to connect with a great organization that does great work within the community,” she said. “We wanted to help to reach those individuals in the community who are under served. We are very proud to be a part of such a great effort in the community.”

People lined up around ACCESS building on Schaefer Road, Dearborn for their COVID-19 vaccine. Photo: Briana Gasorski

ACCESS Community Health and Research Center Director Mona Makki said the turnout was impressive.

“We had over 5,000 people register for today’s event,” she said. “This is an amazing turnout and we are very, very happy. We are vaccinating about 1,500 people. March 20, 2020, when the pandemic first hit, ACCESS was on the frontlines. And seeing where people are at today and seeing the excitement around vaccines because there are so many issues with trust and misinformation, and to see so many people come out today, we are really excited. And this is what we want to see for our community.”

Most of the Arab American community believes strongly in family and togetherness and celebrations, and we are very happy to be providing this to be able to get closer to bringing the community together again — Lina Harajli, ACCESS chief operating officer

Makki said their phones were crashing due to the call volumes.

“We are very happy,” she said. “We are going to continue to provide these types of events.

The  organizations are expecting to administer approximately 1,500 first dose vaccines on March 11 with the second dose being scheduled on April 1.

Chief Operating Officer Lina Harajli said she feels that this has all come full circle.

“We started this journey a year ago with COVID testing,” she said. “We’re really excited now to bring these vaccines to our community. We are the largest ethnic population in Michigan and a hot spot, and so we are really excited to be able to provide for the community.”

Harajli said that a majority of the people present at the event were bilingual and accommodations were made for people who needed them.

“At least 50 percent of the people here are bilingual and we have them in every single area of the building,” she said. “We have a large Muslim community and wanted to make sure we could vaccinate them while respecting their privacy and their religious beliefs, so we set up privacy screens for them to be vaccinated.”

Harajli also said that the ACCESS group is humbled.

“It’s another step in the direction of going back to being together,” she said. “Most of the Arab American community believes strongly in family and togetherness and celebrations, and we are very happy to be providing this to be able to get closer to bringing the community together again.”

The clinics will be administering the Moderna vaccine by appointment only from March 12-March 19 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at 6450 Maple in Dearborn.

Appointments can be made by calling 313-216-2230 or through the Meijer registration system.