ON OVER COVID RESPONSE, THE RACE
IN WISCONSIN TO GET AS MANY
VACCINES IN ARMS IS IN ITS ERL
STAGES.
SO FAR 143,000 PEOPLE IN THE
STATE HAVE COMPLETED THE
TWO-SHOT SERIES.
TURNING BACK TO MORE REPORTING
FROM ZAC, HE MET UP WITH A
WISCONSIN DOCTOR WHO SHOW US HOW
THE VACCINE PROCESS IS WORKING,
A PROCESS THAT IS, OF COURSE,
ALSO MIRED IN POLITICS.
>> IT'S FRIDAY AND DR. MATT
ANDERSON IS ABOUT TO FIND OUT
FROM THE STATE HOW MANY VACCINE
DOSES UW HEALTH WILL RECEIVE FOR
THE NEXT WEEK.
>> THOSE DOSES TEND TO SHOW UP
EITHER SOMETIME ON MONDAY OR
OCCASIONALLY ON TUESDAY.
>> BETWEEN FRIDAY AND MONDAY,
THEY NEED TO CONFIRM
APPOINTMENTS WITH PATIENTS.
>> WE'VE GOT APPOINTMENTS THAT
ARE ON THE BOOKS FOR MONDAY AND
WE'RE DOING A LOT OF LOGISTICS
TO BALANCE OUR SUPPLIES AND
SUCH.
>> BY MONDAY, THE STATE IS
ASKING HOW MANY VACCINE DOSES
THEY CAN DISTRIBUTE THE
FOLLOWING WEEK.
>> WHAT WE'LL BE LOOKING AT WITH
THAT IS HOW MANY APPOINTMENTS DO
WE HAVE CAPACITY TO DO IN THE
COMING WEEK, YOU KNOW, AND
SCHEDULE THEM SUCH.
>> AS THE SHOTS COME IN, SHOTS
GO OUT AND THE CYCLE REPEATS.
>> THOSE SHOTS ARE GETTING IN
AND THEN WE'RE MANAGING THOSE
AND GETTING THOSE PUT OUT.
SO IT'S NOT A LENGTHY PERIOD OF
TIME THAT THEY'RE SITTING IN THE
FREEZER.
>> DR. ANDERSON IS THE LEAD
PHYSICIAN FOR THE COVID VACCINE
WORK STREAM AT UW HEALTH.
HE SAYS IN THE LAST MONTH,
THEY'VE BUILT UP THEIR CAPACITY
TO DISTRIBUTE 5,000 FIRST DOSES
OF THE VACCINE EACH WEEK.
THEY ADMINISTER SECOND DOSES AS
WELL, BUT THOSE ARE
AUTOMATICALLY SENT OUT AND DON'T
REQUIRE A SEPARATE REQUEST.
HE SOON HOPES TO HAVE THE STAFF
AND SPACING CAPACITY FOR 6,000
DOSES A WEEK.
>> REALLY THE LIMITING FACTOR
RIGHT NOW IS VACCINE SUPPLY.
IF WE GET MORE VACCINE, WE WILL
ACCOMMODATE THAT BY FIGURING OUT
HOW THE STAFFING MODEL WORKS.
>> UW HEALTH'S VACCINE SUPPLY IS
DETERMINED BY WISCONSIN'S
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES,
WHICH TAKES ORDERS FROM
VACCINATORS ACROSS THE STATE AND
THEN REQUESTS THAT AMOUNT FROM
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE
VACCINE PRODUCERS.
>> RIGHT NOW WE JUST DON'T HAVE
ENOUGH VACCINE.
>> JULIE WILLEMS VAN DIJK IS
DEPUTY SECRETARY AT DHS.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS ONLY
BEEN ALLOTTING THE WHOLE STATE
AROUND 70,000 FIRST DOSES A
WEEK.
SHE'S HOPING THE NEW BIDEN
ADMINISTRATION WILL SOON BE ABLE
TO BOOST THAT NUMBER.
>> VACCINE SUPPLY IS OUR
LIMITING FACTOR RIGHT NOW, BUT
THE GOOD NEWS IS WE WILL HAVE A
SYSTEM AND WE HAVE VACCINATORS
IN PLACE FOR THE DAYS WHEN THE
SUPPLY INCREASES.
>> DR. ANDERSON AGREES WE'LL BE
IN A BETTER POSITION IN A COUPLE
MONTHS.
BUT SAYS RIGHT NOW HIS BIGGEST
FRUSTRATION IS THE LACK OF
PREDICTABILITY.
>> PREDICTABILITIMENT I THINK
FOR US KNOWING WE'RE GOING TO
GET A CERTAIN NUMBER TO FIND OUT
ON FRIDAY WHAT YOU'RE GETTING
FOR MONDAY IS NOT IDEALMENT WE
RECOGNIZE THAT THERE ARE LIMIT
LIMITATIONS THERE.
>> WISCONSIN'S VACCINE ROLL-OUT
HAS BEEN A NATIONAL
EMBARRASSMENTMENT
>> REPUBLICANS IN THE
LEGISLATURE SAY THE BLAME FOR
ALL OF THIS FALLS ON GOVERNOR
EVERSMENT THE ASSEMBLY PASSED A
BILL TO SUBMIT PLANS FOR
VACCINATION TO LEGISLATIVE
COMMITTEES AND EXPAND
ELIGIBILITY FOR THE SHOTS TO
ANYONE ABOVE AGE 60.
CURRENTLY VACCINATORS ARE
WORKING WITH PEOPLE ABOVE AGE
65.
>> HERE WE ARE IN WISCONSIN,
WHERE IF YOU ASK THE AVERAGE
CITIZEN, THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT
OUR PLAN IS, THEY HAVE NO IDEA
WHEN THEY CAN GET A VACCINE AND
THEY HAVE NO IDEA BESIDES
CALLING THEIR LOCAL HOSPITAL
FRANTICALLY HOW THEY CAN GET
ACCESS TO THE VACCINE.
>> OF COURSE, DHS DOES HAVE
VACCINE PLANS WHICH ARE
AVAILABLE TO AT PUBLIC.
DEMOCRATS SAY IT'S IRONIC
REPUBLICANS ARE CRITICIZING THE
GOVERNMENT ABOUT VACCINES AT THE
SAME TIME THEY'RE ELIMINATING
HIS MASK MANDATE.
THEY SAY REPUBLICANS ARE JUST
TRYING TO BLAME GOVERNOR EVERS
FOR A SUPPLY PROBLEM THAT STEMS
FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.
>> ELIGIBILITY IS NOT THE SAISM
AS AVAILABILITY.
IF WE ONLY HAVE 70,000 VACCINES
MADE AVAILABLE TO US EACH WEEK
BECAUSE THERE WASN'T A PLAN,
BECAUSE THERE AREN'T ENOUGH
VACCINES AND WE KNOW THAT WE
HAVE 700,000 PEOPLE OVER THE AGE
OF 65?
I THINK EVERYBODY CAN DO THE
MATH.
>> REPUBLICANS ARE BASING THEIR
CLAIM OF INEPTITUDE OFF A CDC
WEBSITE WHICH TRACKS THE NUMBER
AND PERCENTAGE OF VACCINES EACH
STATE HAS DISTRIBUTED.
FOR A TIME, WISCONSIN RANKED
NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE COUNTRY.
DHS SAYS THAT WAS LARGELY A
REPORTING ERROR, WITH THE CDC
WEBSITE COMPARING THREE-DAY-OLD
WISCONSIN NUMBERS TO CURRENT
NUMBERS FROM OTHER STATES.
>> I REALLY CAUTION PEOPLE ABOUT
THESE COMPARISONS ON DIFFERENT
SITES THAT THEY MAY NOT BE
APPLES-TO-APPLES COMPARISONS.
>> ANOTHER ISSUE IN THE EARLY
DAYS OF VACCINE DISTRIBUTION WAS
MANY OF WISCONSIN'S DOSES WERE
BEING SENT TO WALGREENS AND CVS,
WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR
VACCINATING PEOPLE IN SKILLED
NURSING FACILITIES.
>> WE HAVE A LOT OF FACILITIES
IN THIS GROUP AND A LOT MORE
THAN A LOT OF OTHER STATES AND
CVS AND WALL GREEFNS ARE FINDING
THAT OUT AS THEY GO TO SCHEDULE
PEOPLE.
>> SOME STATES LIKE WEST
VIRGINIA USED LOCAL PHARMACIES
FOR THAT PROGRAM AND FOUND
THEMSELVES AT THE TOP OF THE
CDC'S LIST.
>> I THINK THE WEST VIRGINIA'S
MODEL REALLY GETS TO THAT
SIMPLICITY, CENTRALIZATION.
>> DR. ANDERSON SAYS YOU CAN
COMPARE THE EARLY DAYS OF
VACCINE DISTRIBUTION TO THE
EARLY DAYS OF COVID TESTING.
A YEAR AGO, TESTS WERE HARD TO
COME BY.
BUT WITHIN A FEW MONTHS A NUMBER
OF DIFFERENT TESTS WERE
AVAILABLE.
WITH NEW VAKS CONVENIENCE VACCINES COMING ONLINE,
HE SAYS WE'LL BE IN A BETTER
PLACE BY SPRING.
>> LATE MARCH, APRIL, INTO
THERE.
>> REPORTING FROM MADISON, I'M
ZAC SCHULTZ