60 Percent Of Wisconsinites Age 65 And Up Are Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19

The state Department of Health Services announced $6.2 million in grants to promote health equity in COVID-19 vaccination Thursday, according to a press release. The money will be distributed to 100 different organizations around the state. According to the release, the goal is to “increase vaccinations by supporting organizations to serve as trusted messengers within their communities, build vaccine confidence, and reduce barriers that hinder vaccine access for marginalized or underserved populations.”

The recipients include the Hmong American Center, Voces de la Frontera and the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin, among many others.

Meanwhile, new reports of COVID-19 cases are holding steady in Wisconsin, based on the latest data published by DHS.

DHS reported 517 new cases of the disease Thursday, bringing the average for the past seven days to 468 daily cases. Daily new cases have been rising slightly since mid-March, when the average was below 400.

There were 4,092 negative tests reported Thursday.

More of the state’s residents are being vaccinated against the disease. A total of 2,890,231 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Wisconsin as of Thursday, with 60 percent of Wisconsinites age 65 and up fully vaccinated.

As of Thursday, 1,076,380 people in Wisconsin, or 18.5 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated.

Increasing rates of vaccination have provided a sense of hope after a yearlong pandemic that has claimed the lives of 6,625 people in Wisconsin. There were three new deaths from COVID-19 reported Thursday.

Other DHS data from Thursday include:

• 577,712 total cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
• 3,314,178 total tests administered, 2,736,466 of which have been negative since the pandemic began.
• 27,638 people have been hospitalized because of the disease, or 4.8 percent of all positive cases, since the pandemic began.
• Daily testing capacity remains at 59,273, though only 4,609 new test results were reported Thursday.

Coronavirus rates vary from county to county. In order to track COVID-19 activity levels, DHS looks at the number of new cases per a county’s population over a 14-day period — and whether there’s an upward or downward trend in new cases. Activity levels range from “critically high,” “very high,” “high,” “medium,” to “low.”

As of Wednesday, DHS data showed the state had no counties with “critically high” or “very high” levels of COVID-19 activity. The majority of Wisconsin counties have “high” levels of activity. There were growing case trajectories in eight counties, and shrinking trajectories in four. Wisconsin’s overall COVID-19 activity level is “high.”

For more about COVID-19, visit Coronavirus in Wisconsin.

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