Mayor Duggan Receives COVID-19 Vaccine, Outlines Detroit's Deployment Plan

(CBS DETROIT) - On Tuesday, the city of Detroit held a press conference to announce the city's strategy for deploying the first round of COVID-19 vaccines for front line workers and staff and residents at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

On Monday, the city received its first doses of the Moderna vaccine, according to a press release.

Mayor Mike Duggan said 30 healthcare workers plus 1,200 EMTs and first responders would be able to get the vaccine on Wednesday if they wanted.

The mayor said he believed getting the vaccine was "the right thing to do," but there is no mandate for it.

Duggan also said there couldn't be a conversation about whether to take a vaccine from the federal government "without acknowledging the history of racism that we've had in the health care system," referencing the Tuskegee Study as an example from 1932 to 1972 where the federal government withheld syphilis treatment from a group of Black men purposely.

The mayor is hoping by getting the COVID-19 vaccine during the conference Tuesday afternoon, Detroit leaders could lead a positive example and encourage Detroiters to get vaccinated when the opportunity presents itself.

Duggan was joined by Chief Pubic Health Officer Denise Fair and Henry Ford Health System President and CEO Wright Lassiter who all received their COVID-19 vaccine shot at the end of the conference.