From a peak of about 426,000 vaccines given the first full week in April, thatâs fallen to about 105,000 administered over the last week of May, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
âItâs going to take a little more time now and thatâs OK,â LeBeau said. âWeâre in the marathon part.â
They may be moving more slowly along the path to herd immunity, but health officials are taking steps to get there.
âWe all hope to get to a point where COVID doesnât exist,â said Mo Kharbat, regional vice president of pharmacy services at SSM Health. âWe just need to defeat the pandemic by seeing us as a community getting the vaccine.â
‘We’re in the marathon part’: Health officials target remaining groups to get vaccinated along Path to Herd Immunity
June 6, 2021 3:00 PM Madalyn O Neill
Updated:
MADISON, Wis. – For health officials, the beginning of the vaccine rollout felt like a sprint.
“It felt like we were like racing as fast as possible to get everyone vaccinated,” said Rebecca LeBeau, public health specialist at Public Health Madison & Dane County.
From a peak of about 426,000 vaccines given the first full week in April, that’s fallen to about 105,000 administered over the last week of May, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
School of Pharmacy Volunteers Help Vaccinate Underserved Communities in Vaccine Equity Effort 2021 PharmD students Janvi Shah (left) and Kathryn Freitag (right) give the COVID-19 vaccine to a couple at the vaccine clinic held at the McKenzie Family Boys & Girls Club in Sun Prairie. Photo by Paul L. Newby II 18 May
The School of Pharmacy, Fitchburg Family Pharmacy, and the Boys and Girls Club partner to increase COVID-19 vaccine access and address hesitancy among BIPOC communities
By Katie Ginder-Vogel
As pharmacists and healthcare providers rallied to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the race to vaccinate the public opened a different battlefront addressing vaccine equity. Although people of color have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, these communities of color have lower rates of vaccination. In Wisconsin, the COVID-19 vaccination rate for Black patients is about half the rate of white patients.
Dr. Jasmine Zapataâs mother and husband werenât sure they wanted to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but after talking with her about their concerns they got immunized in March.
Zapata, a UW Health pediatrician who is Black, is having similar conversations with patients, before church groups, at school forums and with friends and other family â pretty much anyone she knows who wants help making a decision.
Sometimes it takes multiple discussions, but Zapata said thatâs OK.
Zapata
âYes, there is urgency. Yes, we want everybody to get it right away,â said Zapata, who this week will become chief medical officer for community health at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. âBut we need to also be patient and continue having conversations.â