The Wisconsin advisory panel that decides who s next in line for the vaccine will pause to wait for Biden s strategy Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MADISON - The state advisory panel recommending when Wisconsin residents should get the COVID-19 vaccine is pausing work while the Evers administration gathers more information on how President Joe Biden s vaccine strategy will affect the state.
The hiatus, which could last weeks, also comes while the distribution of vaccine doses is ramping up; it will likely take months to provide shots to everyone already eligible.
The committee does not coordinate the physical distribution of the vaccine, and state officials have the final say on guidance given to local vaccinators. The panel of public health experts collects public input on who should be prioritized in the rollout, and gives recommendations to the Department of Health Services on how to manage each phase of the distribution, among other duties.
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MADISON, Wis. – Republicans lawmakers are putting pressure on Gov. Tony Evers to speed up the vaccine rollout in Wisconsin.
In an effort to get more Wisconsinites vaccinated faster, Republicans took up a proposal Thursday requiring DHS to present its vaccination plan to the Legislature no later than February 28.
Under the bill, the general public would also be eligible for vaccines no later than March 15.
“When I talk to fellow legislators from around the country or friends and family that live in another state, they are shocked that we don t have what other states do where you can go online, find out where you can get a vaccination, register for an appointment, get a confirmation email, maybe a text to say when your turn is up,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said. “We have none of those tools in place right now.”
Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin described the sedition caucus as including “those who signed the brief supporting the lawsuit that would disenfranchise millions of Americans; who raised baseless objections to Arizona or Pennsylvania’s Electoral College votes; or who objected to impeaching President Trump.”
“The Sedition Caucus behaved in utterly irresponsible ways inconsistent with their oaths,” Rubin wrote.
But the sedition caucus - which includes Wisconsin’s U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and U.S. Reps. Scott Fitzgerald and Tom Tiffany - is not just a congressional phenomenon.
The Wisconsin Legislature has a sedition caucus. Fifteen Wisconsin legislators signed a Jan. 5 letter calling on Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify the 2020 presidential election results. The letter amplified the lies and conspiracy theories that were advanced by Trump and the rioters he incited as they sought to block the certification of Electoral College votes from states such as
MADISON (WKOW) Republican state lawmakers are set to vote on a series of measures previously removed from a COVID relief package that, itself, remains in limbo.
While Senate Republicans and Democratic Governor Tony Evers agreed on a deal two weeks ago, Assembly GOP leaders said they were cut out of the talks, leaving the bill in jeopardy.
Assembly Republicans said they will take up the compromise bill this week to add some of the items they believe are essential. It is unclear whether those items would cause Evers to veto the package.
In the meantime, the Senate will vote on bills consisting of measures its Republican members removed from the relief bill.