LANSING — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has issued an epidemic order requiring nursing homes to offer COVID-19 vaccines.

The facilities will be required to offer on-site doses to their residents.

“With the omicron variant rapidly spreading across our state and cases of COVID-19 continuing to remain high, we want to make sure our most vulnerable Michiganders are protected from the virus,” MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel said. “The COVID-19 vaccine is our best defense against the virus and we want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to get up to date.”

According to the MDHHS, nursing home residents who aren’t up-to-date on their vaccines must be given the option to receive their remaining doses at the place where they live within 30 days of the order.

The order does not require residents to be vaccinated.

If someone can’t make their own medical decisions, the nursing homes must contact whoever is legally authorized to do so.

The nursing homes are also required to document each person’s consent or refusal to receive the vaccine. 

Officials said that 74 percent of eligible Michiganders in nursing homes have already received their booster shots and, in total, almost 2.6 million booster shots and third doses of the vaccine have been administered statewide.