South central, western regions of state have highest COVID vaccination rates
The south central and western regions of Wisconsin have the highest rates of COVID-19 vaccination in the state, according to Department of Health Services data.
While vaccine providers in southeastern Wisconsin have administered the highest number of doses of any region, the nine-county area ranks last in share of its population that is vaccinated, state data shows.
Wisconsin has seven regions designated by the Health Care Emergency Readiness Coalition. In both the south central region, which includes Madison, and the western region, which includes La Crosse, 16.3% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.
Western Wisconsin also has the smallest population of the seven regions.
About 12.8% of residents in southeast Wisconsin have received at least one shot, or about 289,000 people. Around the state, that metric is higher: 13.1% in the north-central region; 13.5% in the Fox Valley; 14.4% in the northwest; 14.5% in the northeast.
On a county level, the picture is more mixed. Rural counties rank near the top and bottom for rates of vaccination. They have smaller populations to vaccinate — 3,000 doses in Bayfield County means vaccinating 20% of the population. But they are also at a disadvantage, since some rural counties lack hospitals or easy access to vaccines.
State health officials have said they are working to distribute the vaccines more equitably.
In Milwaukee County, where 11.2% of the population has received at least one dose, officials hope to reduce disparities with mobile teams and a possible mass vaccination site run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Statewide, 14.2% of the population has received at least one shot and 6.6% has received both doses, protectthrough ing them from severe COVID-19 illness. New cases reported: 747
New deaths reported: 25
Number hospitalized: 347 (intensive care: 92); down 424 patients from one month ago
Seven-day average of daily cases: 617 (down 979 cases from one month ago)
Seven-day average of daily deaths: 18 (down 16 from one month ago)
Seven-day average positivity rate — as a share of all tests given: 2.8%
Total cases since the start of pandemic: 561,311 (8,402 active cases)
Total deaths: 6,342
Vaccines
Total doses administered: 1,208,151 Doses administered Tuesday: 24,288
Wisconsin residents with at least one dose: 825,900
Residents with both doses: 386,072 Residents 65 and older with at least one dose: 489,269 (48.1% of 65+ population)
Variant cases in U.S. growing
Menacing coronavirus variants are sweeping across the nation even as new cases of the original virus are dropping quickly.
The U.S. reported 1,932 variant cases Tuesday night, up 49% from a week earlier. The variants appear to spread more easily, dodge some immunities and treatments, or both. They remain, however, a very small percentage of all cases.
On Sunday, South Carolina said it had two cases of the B.1.351 variant first detected in South Africa; on Tuesday, it reported 21 cases. It now leads the country in cases of that variant.
The South African variant is a concern because experts warn it might spread more readily than the original virus and might reduce the effectiveness of some COVID-19 vaccines.
Wisconsin labs have not found cases of the South African variant yet. Six cases of the United Kingdom variant, B.1.1.7, had been found in Wisconsin as of last Thursday, the most recent state data available.
Nearby Michigan has the secondhighest number of variant cases in the U.S., with 210.
Illinois has identified one case of the South Africa variant and 42 cases of the U.K. variant.
Health experts have said residents should step up masking and social distancing efforts to limit the spread of the variants.