Wisconsin on track to have fewest amount of COVID-19 vaccines administered in one week since January – WBAY

MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) Although the state is on track to see the fewest number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in one week since mid-January, the Department of Health Services (DHS) says as of Saturday, 3 in 10 Wisconsin residents who are 25-34-years-old are fully vaccinated. In addition, the state says more than 15% of 16-17-year-olds are now fully vaccinated.

The DHS says during the week of May 2, so far 154,864 doses have been administered, with one day to go. Last week, the state reports 248,658 doses were given to Wisconsin residents. Currently, Wisconsins 7-day average of administering a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is 30,985 per day, meaning the state wont reach 200,000 doses administered this week. The state hasnt seen that few doses administered in one week since January. DHS records show 107,543 doses were administered during the week of January 17, and 199,926 doses given during the week of January 24. The state finally surpassed the 200,000 dose per week mark during the week of January 31, when 220,252 doses were administered.

After three consecutive days of the state reporting more than 600 new coronavirus cases, Wisconsin health officials say fewer than 600 cases were reported Saturday. The 525 new cases reported made up 14.73% of the 3,564 results from people being tested for the first time or testing positive for the first time.

According to the states calculations, taking all tests into account, the positivity rates 7-day average has dropped to 3.1% after being level at 3.3% for a week. Health officials would like to see that get below 3%; that metric was as low as 2% in mid-March before it began slowly rising.

20 more people were added to COVID-19s death toll, which is now 6,904. On Friday, the state broke a three-day streak of double-digit increases. Despite the jump in deaths, Wisconsin is still averaging 9 deaths per day, the same 7-day average as the past two days. However, the death rate increased slightly from 1.14% to 1.15%. County case and death totals will be updated later in this article.

The DHS says 47 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 symptoms, the fewest since Monday, and below the 7-day average of 57 admissions per day.

Vaccinators report 44.2% of Wisconsins population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, which is 2,575,417 people. We now have 36.9% of residents fully vaccinated, or 2,149,489 people. We remind you about 20% of the states population -- thats children under 16 -- isnt eligible until the vaccines are approved for younger ages.

Vaccinations by age group:

Vaccination totals in WBAYs viewing area are listed in a table below.

Since February 5, 2020, the DHS reports 3,480,048 people were tested in Wisconsin at least once for the coronavirus. Out of these:

SATURDAYS COUNTY VACCINATION TOTALS

State health officials are promoting the CDCs Vaccine Finder website to make it easier to find and schedule appointments near you.

CLICK HERE for the First Alert Vaccine Teams guide to vaccine clinics and vaccinators, including phone numbers and websites to make appointments and information on free rides to appointments.

CLICK HERE to track vaccine data in Wisconsin

HOSPITAL READINESS

TheWisconsin Hospital Association (WHA)says the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care is below 100 once again. Saturdays report from the WHA shows 323 people are being treated for COVID-19 in the states hospitals, including 85 in ICU. Thats 4 fewer patients overall and 18 fewer in ICU. While the DHS reports total daily COVID-19 hospital admissions, the WHAs reports take deaths and discharges into account.

Fox Valley hospitals were treating 16 patients, including 2 in ICU. The number of overall patients increased by two since Friday, while the number of patients in the ICU is unchanged from the previous two days.

Hospitals in the Northeast region had 26 COVID-19 patients, with 8 in ICU. According to the WHA, thats one fewer patient overall, and an increase of one ICU patient.

For hospital readiness, the WHA reports 260 intensive care beds (19.13% of the states ICU beds) and 2,061 of all beds (18.45%) -- ICU, intermediate care, medical surgical and negative-flow isolation -- are available in the states 136 hospitals.

The Fox Valley regions 13 hospitals have just 5 ICU beds open (4.8%) among them, and a total of 76 open beds (8.9%).

The Northeast regions 10 hospitals have 38 open ICU beds (18.36%) and 238 available beds of all types (24.89%).

These beds are for all patients, not just COVID-19. While we use terms like available or open, a hospital bed can only be occupied if theres enough staffing to care for the patient, including doctors, nurses and food services.

SATURDAYS COUNTY CASE AND DEATH TOTALS (counties with new cases or deaths are indicated in bold) *

Wisconsin

Michigans Upper Peninsula **

* Cases and deaths are from the daily DHS COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. The DHS reports cases from all health departments within a countys boundaries, including tribal, municipal and county health departments; county websites may not. Also, public health departments update their data at various times, whereas the DHS freezes the numbers it receives by the same time every day to compile the afternoon report.

** The Michigan Department of Health does not release reports on Sundays.

COVID-19 TRACING APP

Wisconsins COVID-19 tracing app, Wisconsin Exposure Notification, is available for iOS and Android smartphones. No download is required for iPhones. The Android app is available on Google Play. When two phones with the app (and presumably their owners) are close enough, for long enough, theyll anonymously share a random string of numbers via Bluetooth. If someone tests positive for the coronavirus, theyll receive a code to type into the app. If your phones pinged each other in the last 14 days, youll receive a push notification that you are at risk of exposure. The app doesnt collect personal information or location information, so you wont know from whom or where, but you will be told what day the exposure might have occurred so that you can quarantine for the appropriate amount of time.

SYMPTOMS

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified these as possible symptoms of COVID-19:

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Wisconsin on track to have fewest amount of COVID-19 vaccines administered in one week since January - WBAY