MADISON, WI (WTAQ) — The number Wisconsinites vaccinated against COVID-19 continues to rise, although the speed and distribution of those vaccines is provoking questions from lawmakers.
State health officials reported the most recent vaccination numbers on Thursday showing that over 110,000 Wisconsinites have taken at least the first dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna coronavirus vaccine.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos criticized the state’s handling of vaccine distribution this week, arguing that some places in the state have barely received any vaccine while others have received more than they need.
“The first few weeks, it was very targeted,” said Deputy DHS secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk on Thursday. “In the third and fourth week we’ve cast the net a little wider.”
The number of providers able to distribute the vaccine has also increased in recent days.
“On December 14th we had 108 eligible provider. As of January 5th we had 1,066,” Van Dijk said. “Thats a ten fold increase.”
Appleton medical providers only recently got their first shipments of the Moderna vaccine.
Many residents are now getting their second doses.
Van Dijk did say that the state needs to step up the speed of their distribution and that the second phase of the distribution would get started by the end of the month.
