Vice President Kamala Harris Visits Detroit to Promote Vaccines, Build Support for Voting Rights

Vice President Kamala Harris visited Michigan Monday to urge people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and shore up support for voting rights. 

Harris is on a nationwide campaign to encourage people to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. The vice president is targeting areas with low vaccination rates like Detroit, where just 38% of adults have gotten one shot. 

City of Detroit/Flickr

Speaking in Detroit, she called the city the definition of resilience and noted the TCF Center she was speaking at was used as a vaccination site. 

Harris discussed the change in the Biden administration’s strategy for inoculating people, moving away from mass vaccination sites and setting up smaller, more localized spots for people to get the shot.  

Harris says making vaccines increasingly available is helping reignite the nation’s economy.  

“This is incredible progress and we need to build on that progress. And we need to build on that progress now. Because there are still a whole lot of folks who are not yet vaccinated. And that is certainly true here in Detroit,” she said.   

Harris said the advantages of getting vaccinated are apparent. To date, 62% of Michigan’s 16 and older population have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

“Virtually every person who is in the hospital right now sick with COVID-19 is unvaccinated,” she said. 

Harris, the Biden administration’s point person on voting rights, also attended a listening session with those concerned about casting a ballot. Republican-led legislatures — in Michigan and across the country — are considering making dozens of changes to the state’s election laws. 

And what’s a trip without a fundraiser? Harris will attend a benefit for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer before leaving the state.