MADISON, Wis. (AP) – About 2 million Wisconsin residents, including residents with certain pre-existing conditions, will be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine in the next round to be announced later this week, the state’s deputy health secretary said Monday. .
This is the largest increase in people eligible for vaccines in Wisconsin since the first doses began in mid-December in the state. Those were targeted at health workers up front, and then expanded to those over 65 and this month a group of 700,000 people. all teachers included were made eligible.
Health officials have been under pressure to expand those who are eligible for people with underlying health conditions who may be at greater risk for serious illnesses if they get COVID-19. State health officials have been working to determine what conditions a person is eligible for, and are expected to announce the next group, about 2 million people, on Thursday, said Julie Willems Van Dijk, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. . .
It did not make sense to allow such a large group of people to be eligible earlier when the vaccine supply was limited to only 70,000 doses per week, Willems Van Dijk said in an interview. But with the state receiving more than double the amount of doses per week, and not counting 48,000 of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week, the time has come to increase suitability, she said.
To expand too quickly and create a hope that vaccine is available, even though the supply may not yet meet demand, remains worrying, Willems Van Dyke said.
“It does stop me at night, that we will go too fast,” she said.
The Wisconsin vaccine is expected to increase from late March to April, in line with President Joe Biden’s promise that there will be enough vaccine by the end of May for anyone who wants it. State health officials say anyone who wants to be vaccinated will be able to get it by the end of June or early July.
Willems Van Dyke also looked at the progress of vaccinating those who are already eligible.
More than 60% of people over the age of 65 have received at least one dose. They count nearly 1.1 million people who have received at least one dose and nearly 604,000 have been fully vaccinated in Wisconsin, based on state health data.
In total, 19.7% of the state’s population received at least one dose, which, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was ranked 18th nationwide. The national average is 18.1%.
It is difficult to estimate how many people will be in the next fitness group, known as 1c, because many of them may already be eligible such as teachers, health care workers, transport workers, grocery store employees and people over 65, Willems Van Dyke said .
“It’s getting harder to know exactly how many people will be in an age group, but it’s going to be a large group,” she said, estimating that it would be about 2 million.
The state is rushing to expand vaccinations to get more infectious variants of the virus. Two variants have now been detected in Wisconsin, even as new cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline. As of Monday, nearly 567,000 people had tested positive since the pandemic began and 6,481 died. No new deaths were reported on Monday and there were only 178 new positive cases, but the numbers are always lower on Mondays.
Over the past two weeks, the moving average number of daily new cases in Wisconsin has decreased by 14.7%, according to Johns Hopkins University. Wisconsin has been 46th nationwide for new cases per capita over the past two weeks.
As the numbers have decreased, businesses that have closed are starting to reopen.
The Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Public Museum and Harley Davidson Museum all opened this past weekend for the first time this year. Discovery World plans to open later this month.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the museums were opened after thorough planning and coordination with the city’s health department.
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