Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Meijer registered more than 35,000 people in less than 24 hours after opening registration for the upcoming COVID-19 vaccination clinics that begin next week at Ford Field.
The retailer opened its online registration process just after 4 p.m. on March 15 and immediately saw an extremely high volume of people register to participate in the clinics. In fact, the registry grew by 2,000 people per hour March 16. Since launching its registry in January, Meijer has registered more than 1.7 million people for the vaccine across the Midwest.
“Our stores and pharmacies have played a pivotal role throughout the pandemic – helping customers at the store, building an online vaccine registry and administering more than 201,000 doses to Michiganders so far,” said Rick Keyes, Meijer president and CEO. “I couldn’t be prouder of our quick response, but the work isn’t done. We’re excited to bring that technology – and our expert teams – to Ford Field to support the state of Michigan and FEMA in this critical endeavor.”
Those wishing to register can simply text EndCovid to 75049 and select Ford Field as the location. Invitations to the vaccine clinics will be sent directly to registrants later this week. Meijer plans to focus on sending those invitations to individuals based on the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) to vaccinate those most vulnerable in Detroit, which is the hardest hit city in Michigan, as well as in Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties. People can also register by visiting clinic.meijer.com/register/CL2021 or calling the MDHHS COVID-19 Hotline at 888-535-6136 (press 1).
Meijer also will manage the check-in process for those receiving vaccines at Ford Field, provide onsite pharmacists for clinical review, vaccine security and stability, deploy IT development teams and infrastructure, coordinate data submission to the Michigan Care Improvement Registry and preserve the patient’s immunization record.
The retailer’s goal is to register, schedule and submit the data for 5,000 vaccinations per day.
“Meijer cares about the communities we serve, and our teams have come together with such sincerity to lend a hand during this challenging time,” Keyes said. “Through this continued partnership at the state and federal level, we’re able to keep doing our part to help finally put an end to this pandemic.”
Earlier this year, Meijer was named a federal retail pharmacy partner in Michigan and has since been named as a partner in Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio. To date, the retailer has conducted more than 2,060 clinics large and small, administering 309,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
