State Fair offers free cream puff with shots
MADISON - Gov. Tony Evers is turning to a beloved Wisconsin summer tradition to boost the state’s stagnant vaccination rates against COVID-19 as infections once again pick up speed across the state.
A free cream puff will be provided to anyone who gets vaccinated at the upcoming Wisconsin State Fair, Evers announced Wednesday.
Fair officials and the Department of Health Services are holding a vaccine clinic between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Aug. 5 through Aug. 15. Each attendee who gets vaccinated will receive a voucher for the pastry sandwich at the fair’s Cream Puff Pavilion.
“For 52 years, Kathy and I haven’t missed a State Fair — except for last year, of course — and we’ve shared some of our favorite memories here, including eating our fair share of Wisconsin cream puffs,” Evers said in a statement. “Getting shots in arms is a critical part of making sure our state and our economy continue to recover.”
Half of the state’s adult population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — a rate that has barely moved in several weeks. Now, as the delta variant is causing cases to skyrocket in areas with lower vaccination rates, state officials are again asking unvaccinated residents to consider getting shots.
The number of vaccinations have increased slightly since early July when about 38,000 shots were given — the lowest weekly number since COVID-19 vaccinates became available to the general public and on par with levels in late December when only the shots were available to only health care workers.
Last week, about 45,000 shots were administered in Wisconsin.