MADISON, Wisconsin (WMTV) – Wisconsin’s COVID-19 vaccine eligibility list is about to get much longer. The Department of Health Services is expected to announce the next wave of individuals authorized to receive their first dose, and this latest round is expected to cover more than a third of the state’s residents.
Approximately two million people, including those with pre-existing illnesses, will know when they will be able to start scheduling their own vaccination appointments, said Deputy Health Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk, adding that the announcement is likely to take place on Thursday.
If so many individuals are added, it will mean that more than half of the state’s 5.8 million residents will be eligible to receive one of three vaccines. The latest expansion, which included teachers and grocery workers, covered about 700,000 people and, before that, frontline health professionals and everyone over 65, among others, could be vaccinated.
Among eligible seniors, DHS reports that more than a third of them are fully vaccinated, while more than six out of ten received at least one dose. In the entire population, including those aged 16 and younger for whom no vaccine has been approved, more than 10 percent are fully vaccinated, while nearly twice as many have had at least the first injection.
On Monday, the Associated Press reported that health officials are under pressure to increase eligibility for those with underlying health problems that may put them at greater risk of suffering serious illnesses if they become infected with the coronavirus.
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