T

o ensure Farber Hebrew
Day School students who
were eligible for, and
wanted, COVID-19 vaccines
received them, Dr. Howard
Korman put on two hats —
along with his regularly-worn
kippah.
A member of the Southfield
school’s medical advisory board
for the COVID program, as
well as a self-described “vac-
cine-activist,
” he created an
avenue for high schoolers 16
years and older to receive the
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19
vaccine. And that group quickly
expanded into a larger one with-
in Farber and in the community
and now includes those 12-to-15
years old.
The injections were admin-
istered at a drive-thru clinic
behind the Millennium Medical
Center in Farmington Hills,
run by Michigan Healthcare
Professionals (MHP) that began

as a COVID-19 testing site and
now also offers the vaccines.
The clinic was created by MHP
board member and Millennium
internist Dr. Barry Feldman and
his wife, Lesley, with the assis-
tance of Sabrina Dobbins from
TRIARQ Health, and Giovanni
and Joe Khalifeh of Biotech
Laboratories.

When the clinic offered to
create openings for the Farber
high schoolers to be vaccinat-
ed, Korman contacted head of
school Dr. Joshua Levisohn, and
the opportunity was given to
the students just days before the
slotted times.
“I knew they would need
parental clearance and those
under the age of 18 would need
to be accompanied by a parent,
”
Korman said. “But they made
it happen. They came on the
day reserved for them. Some
came with siblings. A few more
students came at a later date and
they all came back for the sec-
ond vaccine.
”
Appointments were set up for
any staff members who wanted
them, and soon students’ family
members were included also.
“I’m always talking about how
to keep the population safe and
have been an activist in getting
people vaccinated,
” said Korman,

a urologist and president of
Comprehensive Urology, a divi-
sion of the multi-specialty MHP
,
of which he is a board member.
Going beyond the school, he
and his wife, Michal, brought
more than 150 individuals to the
site for vaccines. “We reached
out to many spheres,
” he said.
“We called everyone we knew
and asked them to see if they
knew anyone else not yet vac-
cinated. They referred their
friends, their housekeepers, their
neighbors. Michal signed up
members from her biking group,
and we told the Comcast guy
who came to our house about
the vaccination site. And it was
made available to groups in
our synagogue, Young Israel of
Southfield, through our rabbi.
”
He says the number of people
who have been to the site since it
opened in March 2020 is “stag-
gering.
”
“
Approximately 60,000 indi-
viduals have received more than
100,000 PCR tests,
” Korman said.
“Many have been tested multiple
times. And more than 8,000
patients have been vaccinated to
date at the site.
”
A government grant covers
the cost of both the vaccines and
COVID PCR tests for those with-
out health insurance coverage.
“This is our path out of this,
”
Korman said. “Vaccines have
been miraculously effective
based on all data from Israel.
This is our path to getting back
to our lives again.
“The vaccine and our ability
to offer it is a gift that fell into
our laps,
” he said. “We need to
get the message out to everyone;
everyone who works for us;
everyone who comes into our
homes.
”
Korman added a notice to
the younger members of our
community, saying, “Now that
the vaccine is available to anyone
12 years and older, Dr. Feldman
and his heroic MHP team will
be armed and ready — for your
arms.
”

Vaccines for Teens

18 | MAY 27 • 2021

OUR COMMUNITY

Farber vaccination program expands into the
community, with 12-to-15-year-olds up next.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Sisters, 17-year-old
Gabriella and 16-year-
old JJ Jacobs of
Southfield display their
vaccination record cards
after receiving their first
vaccines.

Farber student Tuvi Weil, 16, of
Southfield smiles under her mask
after receiving her COVID-19
vaccine.

To register and
book online for the
COVID-19 vaccine
or testing at the
Michigan Healthcare
Professionals
COVID clinic, go to:
obuzz.net.