Demand for COVID-19 vaccine is 4 times higher than state's supply, health official says
Sophie Carson
Demand for COVID-19 vaccine in Wisconsin is four times higher than the supply, according to one health official.
The state Department of Health Services will receive about 70,000 doses next week, but vaccine providers have requested 290,000 doses, said Darren Rausch, Greenfield Health Department director.
"Eligible does not equal available," Rausch said in a news briefing Thursday.
All Wisconsin residents 65 and older became eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine this week, and many vaccine providers have reported receiving fewer doses from the state than they requested. State health officials have repeatedly said they need more doses from the federal government.
"Really and truly it's a numbers game at this point," Rausch said.
The Greenfield Health Department learned last Friday afternoon it would receive 300 doses this week, Rausch said. The city has more than 8,000 people age 65 and older.
"We continue to request your patience," Rausch said.
Statewide, the pace of vaccinations does appear to be ramping up. Wednesday saw the highest number of daily vaccinations yet, with more than 36,000 doses administered. It surpasses the previous record set Jan. 21 of about 25,000 doses given.
In total, 432,102 doses have been administered, and 83,055 people are protected from severe COVID-19 illness after receiving both doses of the vaccine.
Of the doses that are in the hands of vaccinators, about 68% have been used, according to DHS data.
About half of the unused doses are tied up in the federal program to vaccinate nursing home and assisted living residents with CVS and Walgreens staff. The state had to set aside about 200,000 doses for the program. This week DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said the program's slow rollout "continues to keep us held back."
"I can tell you with absolute certainty that local health departments are using all of their doses on a weekly basis, and the only doses that we might be carrying into next week would be second doses," Rausch said.
Track COVID-19 in Wisconsin: See the latest data on cases and the vaccine rollout
How to interpret COVID-19 data: What experts say about positive cases, deaths and hospitalizations
New cases reported: 1,802
New deaths reported: 24
Number hospitalized: 718 (intensive care: 166); down 395 patients from one month ago
Seven-day average of daily cases: 1,464 (down 470 cases from one month ago)
Seven-day average of daily deaths: 29 (down 12 from one month ago)
Total cases since the start of pandemic: 538,348 (20,488 active cases)
Total deaths: 5,811
Vaccines
Total doses allocated to Wisconsin: 846,300
Total doses administered: 432,102
People who have received both doses: 83,055
Doses administered Wednesday: 36,333
More:Assembly Republicans hold off for now on ending Wisconsin's mask requirement
With variants discovered, new surge possible
While the recent decline in cases is "promising," the news of coronavirus variants in the U.S. is concerning, said Ben Weston, director of medical services for the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management.
On Thursday, health officials announced the South Africa variant of the coronavirus was identified in South Carolina.
"All the variants show higher levels of infectivity, or contagiousness of the virus, which is extremely concerning for the potential of a new spike to come," Weston said.
Weston said it is even more important for residents to get tested if they have symptoms of COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone with the virus. It's unclear how widespread the variants are in Wisconsin, he said.
"Probably if we're finding it in one person, it's in more than one person, because not everybody that tests positive for COVID has their virus sequenced to figure out if it's one of these variants," Weston said.
He also urged people to continue wearing masks and avoiding gatherings.
"The evidence is overwhelming at this point that masks work to prevent transmission of the virus," he said.
Nationwide, cases, hospitalizations have fallen
New U.S cases of the coronavirus have fallen 35% from their Jan. 11 peak, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. The average number of daily cases has fallen to about 162,000, from 249,000.
And there are positive signs for hospitalization: The COVID Tracking Project said Wednesday that "the number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is decreasing in every major U.S. region."
About 107,000 Americans were hospitalized because of the virus Tuesday, down from a peak of more than 130,000 three weeks ago.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said this week that the improvement in numbers appears to be the result of “natural peaking and then plateauing” after a holiday surge, rather than an effect of the rollout of vaccines that began in mid-December.
The daily death toll remains close to the record highs set earlier this month: The United States is still averaging about 23,000 deaths per week. Recorded deaths lag infections, but the CDC says it expects deaths to decline over the next four weeks.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.