Dane County offered vaccines to DA’s office
MADISON - Dane County health officials made COVID-19 vaccinations available for prosecutors and their staff weeks ago despite the workers not being eligible for the shots under state guidance until Tuesday.
Staff in Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne’s office were able to secure vaccines when law enforcement officers became eligible, which began in January.
Ozanne told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he asked Dane County’s emergency management department to set up the vaccine appointments at that time because he didn’t want courts to stay closed on account of prosecutors being unvaccinated.
“I requested we be considered with law enforcement and that’s how we were slotted in to ensure if and when the courts are back open that we weren’t the reason for it shutting back down,” Ozanne said.
Charles Tubbs, director of Dane County Emergency Management, said he worked with Public Health Madison Dane County to set up the appointments.
“The decision was made for those attorneys or staff who MUST have face-to-face interaction with clients,” Tubbs said in an email. “The intent (like all vaccinations so far) is to protect those who are forced by the circumstances of their work into potential exposure.”
Tubbs said the attorneys received vaccines by utilizing unexpected vacant appointment slots.
That meant prosecutors became eligible in Dane County before public defenders, who also must meet with clients in jails and prisons where COVID-19 outbreaks have been prevalent.
Sarah Mattes, spokeswoman for Public Health Madison Dane County, said the agency does not check with DHS on each eligibility question.
“Just as a guess we get asked over a hundred vaccine eligibility questions a week. We do not check with DHS on each question as we do not have time, nor is DHS able to respond quickly enough to answer these questions,” Mattes said.
That went against guidance from the state Department of Health Services, which until Tuesday did not include workers in county prosecutors’ offices or judges.
“If a district attorney or judge is 65 and over, or is part of the other eligible categories, they could get the vaccine, but as for their professions, they are not eligible at this time,” DHS spokeswoman Jennifer Miller said earlier this month. “If there was available vaccine, and no one available from the eligible groups, they could be offered the vaccine so it doesn’t go to waste, but that is a rare occurrence.”