MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – While some state lawmakers are critical of the slow process of distributing vaccines in Wisconsin, Governor Tony Evers says they’re shipping them out as quickly as possible.
The state Assembly’s health committee held a hearing this week to learn more about the state’s vaccine distribution process.
“The process that’s in place just seems overly bureaucratic and cumbersome,” said committee chairman, Representative Joe Sanfelippo. “We need to tell the public here’s the day when we expect to do this group, here’s the date we when expect to do that group. The minute we get a vaccine from the federal government it should be in and out the next day and in someone’s arm.”
But during a media briefing on Friday, Governor Evers responded to that statement.
“Talking about bureaucratic ‘Blah, blah, blah,’ that’s easy. You can just say that. But if we’re not getting this stuff, how can we vaccinate people?” Evers said. “Statements like that are expected because legislators have to be political, but it’s not helpful. We’re gonna do the best we can with what we’ve got…To put it in the context that this is are bureaucratic block here, it’s not a block. The block is that we don’t have enough vaccines.”
Evers argues that the state’s ability to move more quickly is based upon getting vaccines from the federal government, who owns the vaccines and is distributing them to the states. He says he was surprised following a call with Vice President Mike Pence earlier this week.
“I was on the phone with the vice president when they made the announcement that they were going to empty out the stockpile and send it out to the states,” Evers said. “Now we find out today that the cupboards are bare in Washington DC? It just boggles the mind.”
The governor says a more efficient distribution from the federal government would be helpful in speeding up the process here in Wisconsin.
“We would have more vaccines to distribute and we could get through [Phase] 1B quicker. All of the things that are necessitated to do a good job here,” Evers said. “We rank in the top 20 in the country [for overall vaccinations]. Would we rather be number one? Hell yes! But we aren’t.”
As of Friday, 213,056 doses of vaccine had been administered in Wisconsin.
