Unvaccinated Wisconsin ‘Sitting Ducks’ For COVID-19

MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and top state health officials on Thursday urged anyone aged 12 or older who will attend school in the fall to get vaccinated as soon as possible for COVID-19, as cases increase in the state due to the more contagious delta variant.

The call comes amid growing concern in Wisconsin and nationwide over the growing number of COVID-19 cases. In Wisconsin, the seven-day average of new confirmed cases was 242 as of Thursday, three times more than two and a half weeks ago. There have been 7,393 deaths from the disease in Wisconsin since the start of the pandemic, with an average of one per day over the past week.

“Every death from COVID 19 is now a preventable death,” said Julie Willems Van Dijk, assistant secretary of the State Department for Health Services, in a passionate plea for people to get vaccinated. “Without the vaccine, you’re a duck sitting down for COVID-19. “

She noted with concern the growing number of cases and a nearly doubling of hospitalizations from 74 to 143 in the past two weeks.

“Almost all of these patients could have avoided this fate if they had been vaccinated,” Van Dijk said. “Many of them received incorrect information about vaccinations from social media or friends who were also misinformed.”

She asked rhetorically when anyone had heard of someone who had contracted polio, measles or diphtheria.

“The reasons why these diseases are not present in our population and are not killing us like they did generations ago is that we have very effective vaccines that do not have social media spreading information. errors that people fall prey to, ”said Van Dijk.

Illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths could be largely prevented if those who are not vaccinated are vaccinated, she said.

Weeks before school resumes, Evers urged students to get vaccinated.

“Getting the vaccine now means we can make sure our students are back in class and won’t have to miss in-person classes or extracurricular activities,” Evers said in a statement. “COVID-19 vaccines are the best protection we have against the virus and allow our children to resume learning safely and without interruption. “

Only people 12 years of age and older can be vaccinated. The Pfizer vaccine is the only one approved for children 12 to 17 years old, but it requires two injections spaced 21 to 42 days apart. This is why Evers and health officials urged people to get vaccinated now, before going back to school.

There is no reason to have cases of COVID-19 overflow in the community when students return to college campuses this year as was the case last fall, said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, physician – Wisconsin’s chief for communicable diseases.

“Now is the perfect time for people who will be attending universities in the fall to get vaccinated so that they are fully protected when they return,” he said.

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