MADISON, Wisconsin – In addition to testing for COVID-19 at the Alliant Energy Center, Public Health Madison & Dane County is offering virus protection to selected groups.
PHMDC is vaccinating frontline health workers who belong to Phase 1A as they lay the groundwork for more groups in the future.
On Friday, public health officials said they had completed more than 3,200 vaccinations at the Alliant Energy Center. Thursday, they made just over 600.
“They are super happy,” said Operations Section chief Doug Voegeli of the people who received the vaccines. “I think everyone realized that this was a long way.”
Demand for the COVID-19 vaccine is high and PHMDC is working to maintain it.
“This is one of our jobs, trying to put vaccines in as many arms as possible,” said Voegeli.
At the moment, the State requires that these weapons belong to health professionals at level 1A. Employers can complete an online survey requesting that their employees be vaccinated by PHMDC. Voegeli said he had a system to invite people eligible for vaccination and work with the long list, which at one point had more than 4,200 people in line.
“We randomize the names we have and remove the names we have for the available doses,” he said, adding that the number of vaccinations they give really depends on the supply they receive.
Public Health can send people to partners like health systems “to ensure that we are using our full capacity in Dane County for vaccination,” said Voegeli.
With each vaccination, he said they become more efficient, preparing to expand as more groups become eligible at Level 1B.
“The next group will be quite large,” said Voegeli. “We want to ensure that we can vaccinate everyone as soon as possible, so we have expansion plans, if necessary.”
At a news conference on Friday, Wisconsin Department of Health services addressed what the vaccine distribution will look like in the near future.
“We are not going to wait until 1A is ready,” said DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk. “It’s like getting on a plane. You don’t wait until group A is fully loaded to open the doors and start letting group B in.
DHS did not disclose exactly which groups will be at Level 1B. The final recommendations of a state committee are due to be released next week
“We cannot wait until these decisions are made to start planning and preparing for the expansion of access and therefore these plans are underway,” said Willems Van Dijk. “I think you will see expansion to other groups within that 1B category very soon.”
That means more shots in the arms of people like police and firefighters from the Alliant Energy Center in the coming weeks, although public officials are still emphasizing that everyone maintains safety precautions, such as physical distance and wearing masks.
“We just want to make sure that we can get through that level and move on to the next one,” said Voegeli, “so that we can really reach the general public in late spring.”
In the next month or so, Voegeli said that PHMDC hopes to launch an electronic registration system for vaccines like the one they have for the COVID-19 test. He added that there will also be other vaccination options in the community.
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