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MADISON, Wisconsin. – In addition to testing for COVID-19 at the Alliant Energy Center, Madison & Dane County Public Health is offering some groups protection against the virus.
The PHMDC is in the process of vaccinating frontline healthcare workers who belong to Phase 1A, as they lay the foundation for more groups in the future.
Public health officials said on Friday they performed more than 3,200 vaccinations at the Alliant Energy Center. On Thursday, they made just over 600.
“They are very happy,” said operations section chief Doug Voegeli of the people who received the vaccines. “I think everyone realizes it’s been a long way.”
Demand for the COVID-19 vaccine is high and the PHMDC is working to keep pace.
“It’s one of our jobs, to try to get vaccines into as many arms as possible,” Voegeli said.
Currently, the state requires that these weapons belong to level 1A health workers. Employers can complete an online survey requesting that their employees be vaccinated by the PHMDC. Voegeli said he has a system to invite those eligible to get vaccinated and work on the long list, which at one point had more than 4,200 people in the queue.
“We’re randomizing the names we have and removing the names we have for the available doses,” he said, adding that the number of vaccinations they give really depends on the supply they are allocated.
Public health can send people to partners such as health systems “to make sure we are using the full capacity we have in Dane County for vaccination,” Voegeli said.
With each vaccination, he said they became more effective, preparing to grow as more groups became eligible for Level 1B.
“The next group will be pretty big,” Voegeli said. “We want to make sure that we can vaccinate everyone as quickly as possible, so we have plans for expansion, if necessary.”
At a press conference on Friday, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services explained what the near future of vaccine distribution will look like.
“We are not going to wait until 1A is finished,” said Julie Willems Van Dijk, deputy secretary of DHS. “It’s like getting on a plane. Do not wait until group A is fully on board before opening the doors and starting to let in group B. ”
DHS has not released exactly which groups will be at Level 1B. Final recommendations of a state committee set to be released next week
“We cannot wait for these decisions to be made to start planning and preparing for the expansion of access, and therefore these plans are underway,” said Willems Van Dijk. “I think you will see an expansion to other bands in this 1B category very soon.”
This will mean more gunshots in the arms of people like police and firefighters at the Alliant Energy Center in the coming weeks, although officials still insist everyone upholds safety measures such as physical distance and wearing a mask.
“We just want to make sure that we can go through that level and get to the next level,” Voegeli said, “so that we can really, hopefully reach the mainstream in late spring.”
Over the next month or so, Voegeli said the PHMDC hopes to roll out an electronic registration system for vaccines like what they have for COVID-19 testing. He added that there will also be other vaccination options in the community.
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