Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) admitted on Sunday that her state is “seeing a surge” of COVID-19 cases despite the fact that she has issued some of the strictest coronavirus restrictions in the country. She also begged the Joe Biden administration to send more vaccines to Michigan as the state reports the worst virus surge in the nation.

While appearing on CBS News, Whitmer claimed that there are a few different factors as to why there has been a surge of cases in her state.

Close

“We kept our spread low for a long period of time, so we’ve got reservoirs of people that don’t have antibodies. We have variants, big presence of variants here in Michigan that are easier to catch. And people are tired and they’re moving around more,” Whitmer said.

This came after Whitmer asked the White House for move vaccine doses on Friday. White House COVID coordinator Jeff Zients responded by saying that the “fair and equitable” way to distribute the vaccine was to prioritize states with the largest adult populations.

In her interview on Sunday, Whitmer begged the Biden administration to reconsider, saying that Michigan has some of the harshest COVID restrictions in the country, cases are continuing to rise.

“We are seeing a surge in Michigan despite the fact that we have some of the strongest policies in place, mask mandates, capacity limits, working from home. We’ve asked our state for a two-week pause. So despite all of that, we are seeing a surge because of these variants,” said Whitmer. “That’s precisely why we’re really encouraging them to think about surging vaccines into the state of Michigan.”

Whitmer was then asked about reports that Biden officials are claiming that Michigan’s state government is failing to distribute the vaccines that were allotted to it.

“I don’t think there’s a governor in the country that’s leaving any vaccines on the table. And I can tell you that’s certainly the case in Michigan. We are getting shots in arms. We got over a million shots in arms just in the last two weeks. So we have really been rolling,” said Whitmer. “But all of that being said, right now, we know we’ve got even greater capacity. We could get more vaccines in arms. And when there is a surge, we think that it’s important that we — we go to — we rush in to meet where that need is, because what’s happening in Michigan today could be what’s happening in other states tomorrow. And so it’s on all of us to recognize we can squash where we’re seeing hot spots. It’s in everyone’s best interest.”