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State health officials maintain July herd immunity goal despite decline in vaccine demand


"I got my COVID-19 vaccine" stickers (WLUK/Mike Moon)
"I got my COVID-19 vaccine" stickers (WLUK/Mike Moon)
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(WLUK) -- As long as enough people are willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, state health officials say we will reach herd immunity around the 4th of July.

“We'd be right on target assuming people continue saying yes to the vaccine,” said Julie Willems Van Dijk, Deputy Secretary for Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services.

But with 41% of the state population receiving at least one dose of vaccine, there are signs demand is slowing down.

“If we get to 65% and it takes longer to get to 80, we've not failed in any way,” said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, Chief Medical Officer for DHS Bureau of Communicable Diseases. “We've saved many lives.”

More than four million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have now been administered in Wisconsin. State health officials say about three million more doses should put us at herd immunity.

“That is very doable from the perspective of vaccine supply and vaccine access,” said Willems Van Dijk when asked about reaching herd immunity by July 4th. “We just need people to keep saying yes.”

Willems Van Dijk says for the last several weeks Wisconsin vaccinators have requested about 400,000 first shot doses each week. This week, that number was down to 250,000. However, that is still more than the 150,000 first time doses the state has to distribute each week, according to Willems Van Dijk.

“We are hearing that many of our vaccinators are not having as many requests for appointments as they once had and that makes a lot of sense, think about it, four million doses have already been given,” said Willems Van Dijk.

As demand wanes, outreach to convince people to get vaccinated is expected to increase.

“When we compare the clinical trial data of these vaccines, they compare very favorably to every other vaccine on our recommended schedule,” said Westergaard.

“Many of our healthcare systems have very robust electronic health records and can identify who in their patient populations have not yet received a vaccine and can do personal outreach to their patients,” said Willems Van Dijk.

Health officials say it's about getting as many shots in arms. But they're holding strong with the July 4th goal for herd immunity.

FOX 11 asked health officials how confident they are in reaching that goal.

“I think it's too early to say, and I'm always confident and optimistic,” said Willems Van Dijk.

“If we can get to that threshold, we can actually see disease activity go down to such a low level that life will go back to normal quickly,” said Westergaard.

State health officials say of those eligible for the vaccine, more than 50% have received at least one dose.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has predicted all children will be vaccine eligible by the start of 2022.

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