Wisconsin is now leading the nation in the average number of COVID-19 vaccine shots being administered daily. The state’s vaccine rollout has improved among national rankings significantly in recent days, now 10th in administering a first dose to residents, and 16th in the total number of doses administered — up from nearly last fewer than two weeks ago. On a seven-day rolling average basis, Wisconsin is now administering roughly 6,170 shots per million residents per day. The next fastest state, Hawaii, is administering roughly 5,830 shots per million residents on average, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
DHS continues to get the COVID-19 vaccine to Wisconsinites as equitably, quickly, and safely as possible. Because of the limited supply of vaccine, certain groups of people will be prioritized to receive it before others. The State of Wisconsin is committed to the equitable and fair distribution of the vaccine and is following prioritization guidelines from the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)(link is external) and the State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee (SDMAC).
The COVID-19 vaccine is being distributed to Wisconsin residents in a phased approach. The vaccine supply is limited and vaccinations are targeted to specific groups of people with a higher risk for COVID-19 infection. It will take time to reach all people within each priority population and phase. There is no hard start or stop for each phase. As vaccine supply and the number of vaccinators increase, phases for distribution may overlap.
The state Department of Health Services is expanding the rollout by creating a community clinic in Rock County through a partnership with Virginia-based AMI Expeditionary Healthcare, a health care company that has administered COVID-19 testing sites and vaccination clinics in other states. It will open Feb. 16 and have enough doses to provide shots to 250 people daily at no cost. Once Wisconsin receives more doses of the vaccine, the state plans to open six to 10 more clinics with the capacity to administer up to 1,000 shots per day.
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“Wisconsinites are working together to stop the spread of COVID-19 and put this pandemic behind us. This partnership with AMI is going to help us take another step in the right direction,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement.
Current eligible populations
- Frontline health care personnel
- Residents in skilled nursing and long-term care facilities
- Police and fire personnel, correctional staff
- Adults ages 65 and over
Next eligible groups
- Education and child care
- Individuals enrolled in Medicaid long-term care programs
- Some public-facing essential workers
- Non-frontline essential health care personnel
- Facility staff and residents in congregate living settings
While the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine nears 500 million administered so far, there are still many concerns. From short term to long term impacts, marginalized communities are among those most skeptical, questioning everything with the vaccine. The Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin just finished a two-month program getting many of those questions answered, and intends to continue its’ successful program.
