MARQUETTE — As was the case with the first round of local COVID-19 vaccinations for individuals age 65 and over, online appointments were quickly filled on Monday morning.

Dr. Bob Lorinser, medical director of the Marquette County Health Department, Dickinson-Iron District Health Department, Western Upper Peninsula Health Department and Public Health, Delta & Menominee Counties, said the MCHD hoped to “have the cupboards bare” by Friday.

Vaccination clinics for people in that age group are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday at the Northern Center on the Northern Michigan University campus.

The scheduling link at www.mqthealth.org went live at 10 a.m. Monday, with appointments scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“Whatever we get allocated on Friday, we’ll open up the first-come, first-serve on Monday, and then schedule all the appointments of all the vaccine we have,” Lorinser said.

The MCHD reported that 1,200 appointment slots for this week’s clinics were filled in three minutes, while over 600 appointments made via phone were scheduled in three hours.

It stressed that anyone who wants a vaccine will get one, but it “will just take some time.”

LMAS has challenges too

The Luce-Mackinac-Alger-Schoolcraft District Health Department on Friday announced the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine far exceeded its supply in the health department’s four counties.

“We are so encouraged that so many of you have recognized the importance of the vaccine for protection and returning to something that resembles normal, everyday life,” LMAS said in a news release. “Across Luce, Mackinac, Alger and Schoolcraft counties, our health department, hospitals and tribal partners will continue to work to assure as much equity with the vaccine supply as we can, while also working to ensure that each dose of vaccine is administered as soon as possible.”

LMAS expressed disappointment that it did not have more vaccine and that its orders for this week are not as robust as it had hoped.

“As disappointing as this is for all of you and for all of us, we urge patience, and want to emphasize that we all must continue with caution, don’t gather with people not in your immediate household, wear a clean cloth face covering that fully covers your mouth and nose, stay home when you don’t feel well and if you have been contacted to quarantine or isolate, please do so,” LMAS said. “We are on a path of many starts and stops depending on vaccine supply and capacity to administer the vaccines.”

Community members can help by using online scheduling or getting on lists to be contacted for appointments by visiting LMASDHD.org. Anyone who has already made an appointment or called to be placed on a list for notification should not contact the health department or hospitals.

For those who fall into the 65 and older age bracket and have not made an appointment or added their names to a list for scheduling, it is best if they can do this online; details for all four counties are at the LMAS website.

For people who do not have internet capability, each hospital has a dedicated COVID vaccine line, and they may also contact the LMAS office in their counties.

Hospital COVID phone lines and LMAS contact numbers for each county are as follows:

≤ Helen Newberry Joy Hospital — HNJH.org — call 906-293-9289 or LMAS at 293-5107;

≤ Mackinac Straits Health System — MackinacStraitsHealth.org — call 906-328-2159 or LMAS at 643-1100;

≤ Munising Memorial Hospital — MunsingMemorial.org — call 906-387-4111 or LMAS at 387-2297; and

≤ Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital, which is able to take first appointments for residents 65 and older at https://bit.ly/COVID19-VACCINE People may call 906-341-3775.

Variant discovered downstate

The MCHD reported on Monday that a COVID-19 variant, known as B.1.1.7., or the UK variant, was identified over the weekend in a downstate resident.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced on Saturday that the case involved an adult female living in Washtenaw County.

The variant was first detected in the United Kingdom in mid-December, but since has spread to 15 U.S. states with about 88 cases as of Friday, the MCHD reported.

The number of states and countries with this variant is expected to be much higher, though, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated it might become the dominant COVID-19 virus over time, the MCHD said.

The health department also acknowledged that mutations in viruses are expected, with the COVID-19 virus undergoing an average of one mutation every two weeks.

New variants of viruses occur when there is a change, or mutation, to the viruses’ genes.

Mutations can result in three outcomes for a virus:

≤ Some mutations may kill the virus;

≤ Other mutations might result in no change; and

≤ Some might result in a virus with clinical, virologic or epidemiological difference.

The MCHD noted that sometimes new variants emerge and disappear, while at other times, new variants emerge and persist.

What is currently known about the UK variant, according to the MCHD, are these factors:

≤ It is associated with increased transmissibility;

≤ There is no impact on the severity of disease or vaccine efficacy;

≤ Little or no impact is expected for natural immunity or current testing;

≤ There is no indication that the new variant exhibits any changes in the virus composition that would impact current vaccines’ effectiveness; and

≤ There is no impact on the effectiveness of the monocional antibody treatments.

The MCHD said the estimate of greater transmissibility — as much as 70% more — is based on modeling and epidemiological data, but has not been confirmed in lab experiments. It stressed that how this variant, if it becomes the dominant circulating virus, will affect the transmission rate in the Upper Peninsula and Michigan is unknown but “concerning.”

The U.P., according to the MCHD, had routinely participated in Michigan’s whole genomic surveillance program even before the variant was known. The MDHHS Bureau of Laboratories performs whole genome sequencing to accurately examine outbreaks within facilities, community transmission dynamics and the emergence of new variants, the MCHD said. The U.P. has multiple sites that provide 10 samples per week as part of its surveillance program. Currently, no concerning variants have been identified in the U.P.

As other health agencies have urged, the MCHD said “rigorous and increased” compliance with public health mitigation strategies, such as vaccination, physical distancing, masks, hand hygiene, and isolation and quarantine, is essential to limit the spread of COVID-19 and its variants.