MADISON, Wisconsin – Many viewers are asking News 3 Now, why UW Health is postponing its vaccination appointments, but SSM Health appears to have enough vaccine. Well, it is difficult to compare the two health systems.
SSM Health has 18 clinics across the state that are vaccinating patients in many different locations. UW Health has four clinics that offer vaccines, all of which are in Dane County.
“It is clear that the more counties you are allocating, the more doses you are entitled to. Dane County has a large number of vaccinators, so what DHS has shared with us is that they are not necessarily giving proportionately. So the more vaccinators you have, it dilutes the amount of vaccine that can be administered, ”said Dr. Matt Anderson of UW Health.
DHS is also not taking into account the large number of patients aged 65 and over at UW Health.
Although UW Health has the capacity to vaccinate 7,000 people a week, they are receiving only about 2,000 doses. Its panel shows more than 40,000 total vaccinations so far.
Last week, UW Health had to reschedule about 4,000 appointments due to a lack of supplies.
“The state has asked us to vaccinate our primary care population and do so within the period prior to March 1. So, we raised the capacity to do that, ”said Anderson. “(But) the vaccine supply we received was inconsistent with that question.”
He said that UW Health has since recalibrated its appointments to adjust to the smaller supply of vaccine they are receiving and expects not to have to reschedule more.
Mo Kharbat, Regional VP of Pharmacy Services at SSM Health Wisconsin, said that SSM Health is also struggling not to get enough vaccine.
Each of SSM Health’s 18 clinics orders about 2,000 doses per week, but DHS gives only about 500. That adds up to about 9,000 doses to distribute across the state each week.
SSM Health has vaccinated more than 90,000 patients so far, and has not had to cancel or reschedule appointments due to a lack of supplies.
“It all comes down to planning, how we plan our clinics, how we plan our schedules, how we switch between the locations of our clinics. We have 18 sites that apply the COVID vaccine, but not all 18 work every day of the week, ”said Kharbat.
SSM Health is starting to vaccinate new eligible groups, including teachers. They are scheduled to vaccinate about 2,000 school staff in Waunakee and Sun Prairie this week. While 20% of your vaccine quota will go to educators, 80% will still go to people aged 65 and over.
“If we had more vaccine, we could have programmed more than 2 school districts. We could have scheduled teachers to come daily after March 1, ”said Kharbat.
UW Health is choosing to continue working with its patients aged 65 and over, with around 12,000 currently scheduled.
“These people have been waiting the longest and are usually the most vulnerable to hospitalization and complications, we continue to focus on these people,” said Anderson.
UW Health has partnered with Public Health Madison and Dane County to vaccinate teachers at the Alliant Energy Center, but due to a lack of supplies, this will not happen for at least another 2 weeks.
COPYRIGHT 2021 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, TRANSMITTED, RECOGNIZED OR REDISTRIBUTED.