Wisconsin on pace to have 2 million COVID-19 vaccinated residents

MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – Wisconsin will cross an important threshold of getting “shots in the arm” of COVID-19 vaccine to 2 million residents Thursday -- if it hasn’t met that milestone already. The Department of Health Services reports 1,987,677 state residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine That’s less than 13,000 residents shy of the milestone when the state is averaging 32,645 shots per day for people who live in Wisconsin, with its estimated population of almost 6 million people. These numbers may be a day or two behind as vaccinators’ reports are still coming in.

According to Wednesday’s DHS report, vaccinators administered 3,195,625 shots of COVID-19 vaccines to residents and non-residents, such as people who live near the state line or work in Wisconsin. That’s an increase of 75,256 doses since Tuesday. By our calculations, the state’s 7-day average is 55,310 doses per day.

Looking at only Wisconsin residents, 43,623 more people received the vaccine since Tuesday’s report.

A total 1,227,807 state residents have completed their vaccination regimen, either receiving two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That’s 42,329 more people since Tuesday, with the state averaging 25,238 people finishing their vaccinations every day for the past 7 days.

This positive news comes at a time when Wisconsin and the nation are seeing another rise in the spread of the coronavirus and health officials are asking people to keep their guard up. The 7-day average of new cases climbed to 657 a day by our calculations Wednesday after the state reported 727 new positive tests. While not close the rates we saw in January, it’s the eighth time in 10 days the daily cases were over 500 after hitting months-long lows early last month. The new cases were spread across 63 counties.

The 7-day average for the positivity rate rose again and is now at 3.7%, up from 3.5% on Tuesday. The state is gauging the spread of the COVID-19 virus by the positivity rate looking at all tests, including people tested multiple times.

Wisconsin now has 581,797 confirmed cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began. Active cases represent 1.3% of all coronavirus cases since February 5, 2020. There are 7,715 people in the state who were diagnosed in the past 30 days. The percentage of recovered cases fell from 97.6% to 97.5%, or 567,185 people. The death rate is holding steady at 1.14% after falling from 1.15% over the weekend; this is due in part to new cases outpacing fatal ones.

The DHS reported 5 more deaths, bringing the toll to 6,653. The deaths were in Jefferson, Kenosha, Kewaunee, Milwaukee and Washington counties.

County case and death totals appear later in this article.

Since December 13, 2020, more than 1 in 3 people in Wisconsin (34.1%) received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 1 in 5 (21.1%) are fully vaccinated, including 65.2% of senior adults, which is probably helping to keep the death count low.

Vaccinations by percentage of age group:

• 16-17: 7.9% vaccinated/1.2% completed
• 18-24: 19.6% vaccinated/8.7% completed
• 25-34: 27.5% vaccinated/14.2% completed
• 35-44: 34.4% vaccinated/17.5% completed
• 45-54: 36.1% vaccinated/17.8% completed
• 55-64: 45.9% vaccinated/19.2% completed
• 65+: 77.1% vaccinated/65.2% completed

CLICK HERE for details on the new eligibility requirements

CLICK HERE to track vaccine data in Wisconsin

CLICK HERE for the First Alert Vaccine Team’s guide to vaccine clinics and vaccinators, including phone numbers and websites to make appointments and information on free rides to appointments.

WEDNESDAY’S COUNTY VACCINATION NUMBERS

HOSPITAL READINESS

After days of hospitalizations above average, the DHS reported 25 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, down sharply from the 7-day average of 42 hospitalizations per day.

After discharges and deaths, the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) reports 268 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized Wednesday, with 65 in ICU. That’s 10 fewer in ICU and 7 fewer patients overall, bringing us down from Tuesday’s hospitalization numbers which were the highest in just over a month.

The WHA says Fox Valley region hospitals are treating 22 patients, two fewer than Tuesday. Four of them are in ICU, which is unchanged.

Northeast hospitals also have 22 COVID-19 patients. Three are in intensive care. That’s one less in ICU and one less patient overall than the day before.

For hospital readiness, the WHA reports 239 ICU beds unoccupied, which is 16.3% of the ICU beds in the state. The 136 hospitals have a total 1,773 open hospital beds -- ICU, intermediate care, medical surgical and negative-flow isolation (15.9%). These beds are for all patients, not just COVID-19.

The Fox Valley region’s 13 hospitals have 7 ICU beds open among them (6.7%) and 78 of all hospital bed types (9.1%).

The Northeast region’s 10 hospitals have 35 ICU beds (16.9%) and 220 of all bed types (23.0%) available.

We use terms like “available” and “unoccupied,” but a hospital can only put a patient in a bed if it has the staff to care for them, including doctors, nurses and food services.

WEDNESDAY’S COUNTY CASE AND DEATH TOTALS (counties with new cases or deaths are indicated in bold) *

Wisconsin

• Adams – 1,649 cases (+3) (10 deaths)
• Ashland – 1,209 cases (16 deaths)
• Barron – 5,569 cases (+13) (76 deaths)
• Bayfield - 1,099 cases (+4) (19 deaths)
• Brown – 30,845 cases (+14) (233 deaths)
• Buffalo – 1,330 cases (7 deaths)
• Burnett – 1,252 cases (+6) (21 deaths)
• Calumet – 5,636 (+6) (46 deaths)
• Chippewa – 7,204 cases (+7) (94 deaths)
• Clark – 3,176 cases (+3) (58 deaths)
• Columbia – 5,225 cases (+11) (56 deaths)
• Crawford – 1,680 cases (+3) (17 deaths)
• Dane – 42,570 (+55) (289 deaths)
• Dodge – 11,596 cases (+10) (161 deaths)
• Door – 2,539 cases (+5) (21 deaths)
• Douglas – 3,791 cases (+8) (30 deaths)
• Dunn – 4,460 cases (+18) (31 deaths)
• Eau Claire – 11,306 cases (+10) (105 deaths)
• Florence - 434 cases (+2) (12 deaths)
• Fond du Lac – 12,129 cases (+11) (105 deaths)
• Forest - 938 cases (23 deaths)
• Grant – 4,764 cases (+7) (84 deaths)
• Green – 3,391 cases (+4) (17 deaths)
• Green Lake - 1,548 cases (19 deaths)
• Iowa - 1,961 cases (+1) (10 deaths)
• Iron - 570 cases (21 deaths)
• Jackson - 2,583 cases (+3) (26 deaths)
• Jefferson – 8,126 cases (+11) (106 deaths) (+1)
• Juneau - 3,043 cases (+2) (21 deaths)
• Kenosha – 15,080 cases (+14) (304 deaths) (+1)
• Kewaunee – 2,308 cases (+1) (25 deaths) (+1)
• La Crosse – 12,487 cases (+5) (80 deaths)
• Lafayette - 1,513 cases (+2) (7 deaths)
• Langlade - 1,948 cases (+1) (32 deaths)
• Lincoln – 2,962 cases (+5) (60 deaths)
• Manitowoc – 7,374 cases (+3) (68 deaths)
• Marathon – 13,998 cases (+17) (184 deaths)
• Marinette - 4,016 cases (+3) (65 deaths)
• Marquette – 1,342 cases (+4) (21 deaths)
• Menominee - 790 cases (11 deaths)
• Milwaukee – 101,620 (+79) (1,265 deaths) (+1)
• Monroe – 4,391 cases (+3) (36 deaths)
• Oconto – 4,319 cases (+2) (49 deaths)
• Oneida - 3,524 cases (+6) (68 deaths)
• Outagamie – 20,039 cases (+13) (200 deaths)
• Ozaukee – 7,930 cases (+14) (82 deaths)
• Pepin – 822 cases (cases revised -1 by state) (7 deaths)
• Pierce – 3,673 cases (+10) (35 deaths)
• Polk – 4,068 cases (+13) (43 deaths)
• Portage – 6,576 cases (+10) (67 deaths)
• Price – 1,188 cases (+3) (7 deaths)
• Racine – 20,806 cases (+18) (336 deaths)
• Richland - 1,276 cases (+1) (15 deaths)
• Rock – 14,948 cases (+36) (165 deaths)
• Rusk - 1,273 cases (+1) (16 deaths)
• Sauk – 5,543 cases (+21) (44 deaths)
• Sawyer - 1,578 cases (23 deaths)
• Shawano – 4,634 cases (69 deaths)
• Sheboygan – 13,356 cases (+20) (134 deaths)
• St. Croix – 6,970 cases (+23) (49 deaths)
• Taylor - 1,831 cases (+5) (24 deaths)
• Trempealeau – 3,481 cases (+6) (38 deaths)
• Vernon – 1,882 cases (+1) (38 deaths)
• Vilas - 2,198 cases (+1) (39 deaths)
• Walworth – 9,128 cases (+24) (136 deaths)
• Washburn – 1,367 cases (+3) (18 deaths)
• Washington – 14,191 cases (+35) (142 deaths) (+1)
• Waukesha – 42,447 cases (+84) (503 deaths)
• Waupaca – 4,792 cases (+1) (116 deaths)
• Waushara – 2,125 cases (+3) (31 deaths)
• Winnebago – 17,602 cases (+16) (190 deaths)
• Wood – 6,778 cases (+4) (77 deaths)

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula**

• Alger - 293 cases (+1) (1 death)
• Baraga - 521 cases (+1) (33 deaths)
• Chippewa - 898 cases (+3) (25 deaths)
• Delta – 2,852 cases (+8) (68 deaths)
• Dickinson - 2,214 cases (55 deaths)
• Gogebic - 975 cases (+1) (22 deaths)
• Houghton – 2,316 cases (+8) (32 deaths)
• Iron – 888 cases (+2) (42 deaths)
• Keweenaw – 125 cases (1 death)
• Luce – 147 cases
• Mackinac - 332 cases (+5) (3 deaths)
• Marquette - 3,710 cases (+21) (55 deaths)
• Menominee - 1,664 cases (+1) (39 deaths)
• Ontonagon – 378 cases (+1) (20 deaths)
• Schoolcraft - 269 cases (+1) (4 deaths)

* Cases and deaths are from the daily DHS COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. The DHS reports cases from all health departments within a county’s boundaries, including tribal, municipal and county health departments; county websites may not. Also, public health departments update their data at various times, whereas the DHS freezes the numbers it receives by the same time every day to compile the afternoon report.

**The state of Michigan does not update numbers on Sundays. Monday’s numbers include updates since Saturday’s reporting deadline.

CDC GUIDANCE ON GATHERINGS

The Centers for Disease Control have announced that fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing.

The CDC’s recommendations also say vaccinated people can come together in the same way – in a single household -- with people considered at low-risk for severe disease, such as in the case of vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren.

The CDC is continuing to recommend that fully vaccinated people still wear well-fitted masks, avoid large gatherings, and physically distance themselves from others when out in public. The CDC also advised vaccinated people to get tested if they develop symptoms that could be related to COVID-19.

COVID-19 TRACING APP

Wisconsin’s COVID-19 tracing app, “Wisconsin Exposure Notification,” is available for iOS and Android smartphones. No download is required for iPhones. The Android app is available on Google Play. When two phones with the app (and presumably their owners) are close enough, for long enough, they’ll anonymously share a random string of numbers via Bluetooth. If someone tests positive for the coronavirus, they’ll receive a code to type into the app. If your phones “pinged” each other in the last 14 days, you’ll receive a push notification that you are at risk of exposure. The app doesn’t collect personal information or location information, so you won’t know from whom or where, but you will be told what day the exposure might have occurred so that you can quarantine for the appropriate amount of time.

SYMPTOMS

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified these as possible symptoms of COVID-19:

• Fever of 100.4 or higher
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Chills
• Repeated shaking with chills
• Muscle pain
• Headache
• Sore throat
• New loss of taste or smell

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