After flood destroyed vaccines, Southwest Detroit clinic reopens for shots

Detroit's June flooding overtook highways, hurt small businesses and seeped into every nook and cranny of residential basements. It also ruined COVID-19 vaccines at the American Indian Health and Family Services clinic in Southwest Detroit.

Three weeks later, it's back up and running.

As of Monday, the clinic has a full stock of Pfizer vaccines and is open for walk-ins and appointments. No one will be turned away, said Jennifer Oprisiu, director of development at AIHFS.

"Because of the flood, we lost power as well," Oprisiu said. "All the vaccines that were temperature controlled, we lost. I believe it was 3,000 vaccines, so not even just COVID, it's other vaccines you need to start school and all of that other stuff. That was a very traumatic experience for everyone involved."

Some people who wanted vaccine appointments were unable to get one while they were still recovering from the flooding, she said.

After being hit hard by flooding in 2014, Oprisiu said the flooding on June 25 was "horrible."

"We even installed a valve and a sump pumps and other technologies so the damage wouldn't happen again, but it did," she said. "And so everything was essentially ruined."

Last month's flooding overwhelmed the ground floor, and the organization lost six workstations, a kitchen, furnaces/AC systems and all of their vaccines, including ones for COVID-19. The flooding led to $350,000 in total damages, including the vaccines.

"This experience was mortifying for our staff and community members," Oprisiu said in a message. "Because of the flood damage, we had to close our doors to the community and could not offer our programs, services or COVID relief. Regardless of the external environment, we are resilient and are pressing through; we just had to pivot a little."

Oprisiu said AIHFS, the only urban American Indian organization in Michigan, has done what it can to help throughout the pandemic, from providing drive-thru testing to administering vaccines.

American Indians are 3 to 5 times more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than non-Hispanic white people and are nearly twice as likely to die from it, she said.

The clinic reopens as vaccination rates in the state and the country are slowing and cases are rising again, likely due to the Delta variant.

As of Wednesday, 62.9% of Michigan residents 16 and older have received at least one dose, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is urging more residents to get the shot through sweepstakes. The latest winner won a $1 million prize.

"This is a pandemic and people are dying and it's really important to do your part," Oprisiu said.

Contact Emma Stein at estein@freepress.com.

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