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.

