Wisconsin’s first COVID-19 shipment reduced by nearly 30%

MADISON, Wisconsin (WMTV) – Governor Tony Evers and state health officials on Friday urged the federal government to send more Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Wisconsin after being told Thursday they would receive fewer doses than they thought.

“This is unacceptable,” Governor Evers said. “The citizens of Wisconsin deserve the vaccine promised by the federal government.”

According to a press release, the state will only receive 35,100 doses of the vaccine. Governor Evers pointed out that this is much less than the 48,725 initially allocated to Wisconsinites. As of Friday, Wisconsin had nearly 452,000 positive cases and 4,315 deaths.

“Our healthcare workers and long-term care residents need this vaccine ready and available,” the governor said.

Officials have asked the federal government to explain why the vaccines are being distributed the way they are. Governor Evers noted that health workers are working around the clock to distribute the vaccine, but this late-week announcement of fewer shipments than expected makes planning logistics “incredibly difficult.”

The delays have been little explained, but senior officials in the Trump administration cited confusion over semantics on Thursday, while Pfizer said its production levels had not changed.

Several other states say they have also been told to expect significantly fewer doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine during its second week of distribution.

California, where an explosion of cases is straining intensive care units to breaking point, will receive 160,000 fewer doses of the vaccine than state officials predicted next week – a reduction of about 40 %.

Missouri health director Dr Randall Williams said his state would receive 25 to 30 percent less vaccine next week than expected. A statement from the Iowa Department of Public Health said his allocation would be “reduced by 30%, but we are working to get confirmation and further details from our federal partners.”

Michigan shipping will drop by about a quarter. Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire and Indiana have also been told to expect smaller shipments.

Copyright 2020 WMTV. All rights reserved.