COVID-19 vaccine supply at Wisconsin Center still outpaces demand
WISN 12 asked FEMA and city officials if the city was at risk of losing the facility if it was not operating at capacity.
WISN 12 asked FEMA and city officials if the city was at risk of losing the facility if it was not operating at capacity.
WISN 12 asked FEMA and city officials if the city was at risk of losing the facility if it was not operating at capacity.
COVID-19 vaccine supplies at Milwaukee's Wisconsin Center are far outpacing demand.
Continuing Coverage: Coronavirus in Wisconsin
The site is part of a new federal vaccine pilot program.
It has thousands more doses available than there are people who are receiving shots.
WISN 12 asked FEMA and city officials if the city was at risk of losing the facility if it was not operating at capacity.
Both said the bigger concern is finding a way to get more people through the doors to get their vaccine.
FEMA's commitment to the vaccine program remains unchanged, at least for now.
It's been a little more than a week since FEMA launched the Wisconsin Center program with a specific goal.
"The intention of this pilot is reaching historically under-served communities," said Dan Shulman with FEMA.
The federal agency committed thousands of vaccine doses a day to the site for eight weeks.
But so far, the supply has far outpaced the demand.
"The Wisconsin Center has the capacity to do about 4,000 shots a day," Mayor Tom Barrett said. "Right now, we're doing about 2,000 shots a day. So there's a lot of capacity there."
With COVID-19 cases soaring in other parts of the Midwest, FEMA said it was working with the city and state and evaluating the vaccine need and supply on a daily basis.
WISN 12 asked whether the lower demand at the Wisconsin Center site could put the FEMA operation at risk.
"We're going to make decisions, smart decisions with our partners about what the need is for a vaccine center at the Wisconsin Center," Shulman said. "And we're going to make that decision cooperatively with our state and local partners."
"I think they share our concern that we want to see more people get vaccinated. Obviously, they are going to use their resources where they are most effective. We still believe that is a very effective site," Barrett said. "They have to do what's right. They have limited resources. But I think they understand that this is a community that has really tried to tackle this pandemic in a very serious way."
If FEMA decided to close its mass vaccine clinic, a spokesperson for Milwaukee's Health Commissioner told WISN 12 the commissioner was not concerned about that prospect, saying the city would have enough vaccine doses available to make up for any loss in the federal supply.
Sign up for coronavirus email alerts from WISN
Get breaking news alerts with the WISN 12 app.
Follow us: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
