More than 1M in state are at least partially vaccinated
Two and a half months after COVID-19 vaccinations began in Wisconsin, more than 1 million residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, state health officials announced Friday.
The milestone was paired with the news that a laboratory has identified Wisconsin’s first case of the coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa. The variant spreads more quickly and easily than the original strain and may affect how some antibodies respond.
The emerging variant cases mean Wisconsin must work to avoid another major surge while quickly vaccinating its most vulnerable residents.
“We’re really on a race against the clock, against the variants,” Julie Willems Van Dijk, state Department of Health Services deputy secretary, said this week.
Scientists do not know whether the South Africa variant, called B.1.351, leads to more severe illness, DHS said. But the variant does include a mutation that may help the virus avoid some level of immunity gained from prior infection or a vaccine.
In a study published in February, vaccine manufacturer Moderna showed that blood from people who received its current vaccine included neutralizing antibodies against the major known variants. But only one-sixth of their antibodies were protective against the South Africa variant.
It is not clear whether this reduced antibody level is sufficient to protect people against symptomatic or serious cases of COVID-19 from the new variant.
Moderna is developing a new shot aimed at combating this issue.
Statewide, labs also have identified 26 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first found in the United Kingdom, according to the state. It is also more contagious than the original strain.
Nearby Michigan continues to be one of the nation’s largest variant hot spots, with more than 400 cases of the U.K. variant, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health officials have said residents should continue to practice social distancing and wear masks to help quell another surge of the easily spread variants.
Vaccines provide light at end of tunnel, Evers says
The approximately 1 million Wisconsin residents who have received a shot of vaccine make up 17.6% of the population.
Gov. Tony Evers touted the milestone in a statement.
“While we still have a long way to go, the light is certainly at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “And every day we are one step closer than yesterday to reaching communitywide immunity and getting back to our Wisconsin way of life.”
Nearly 10% of residents have received both shots in the two-dose series, protecting them from severe COVID-19 illness.
On Wednesday, providers administered more than 60,000 doses — a single-day record for the state.
The vaccine rollout is expected to ramp up further in the coming weeks, with Johnson & Johnson doses set to arrive next week in Wisconsin. President Joe Biden has promised enough doses for every American by the end of May.
About five weeks after anyone 65 and older became eligible to get the vaccine in Wisconsin, about 60% of the age group has received at least one dose. Nearly 30% of the group is fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 cases and deaths in Wisconsin nursing homes have fallen dramatically since the first weeks of vaccinations, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Thursday. The weekly rate of cases among nursing home residents plummeted 97% from late December through the third week of February.
Nationally, daily COVID-19 cases and deaths have plateaued around 60,000 to 70,000 cases per day and 2,000 deaths per day, numbers that are still “too high” and around where they were in the summer surge, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a White House COVID-19 news conference.
New cases reported: 350
New deaths reported: 7
Number hospitalized: 257 (intensive care: 76); down 326 patients from one month ago
Seven-day average of daily cases: 479 (down 707 cases from one month ago)
Seven-day average of daily deaths: 11 (down 12 from one month ago)
Seven-day average positivity rate — as a share of all tests given: 2.3%
Total cases since the start of pandemic: 566,158 (7,211 active cases)
Total deaths: 6,477
Vaccines
Total doses administered: 1,568,329 Doses administered Thursday: 47,715
Wisconsin residents with at least one dose: 1,023,306 (17.6% of the population)
Residents with both doses: 572,501 (9.8% of the population)
Residents 65 and older with at least one dose: 608,677 (59.8% of 65+ population)