UW System Student Vaccination Rates Vary Significantly By Campus

New student COVID-19 vaccination rates have been published by the University of Wisconsin System.

The rates vary widely from the highest, where 91 percent of students are fully vaccinated against the virus at UW-Madison, to the lowest, where 38 percent of students are fully vaccinated against it at UW-Parkside.

UW System interim President Tommy Thompson has been touring campuses around the state since early August promoting a competitive scholarship drawing aimed at encouraging students to get vaccinated during the fall semester. The “70 for 70” campaign is offering 70 scholarships worth $7,000 to vaccinated students who attend system universities, other than UW-Madison, that reach a 70 percent student vaccination threshold. Students must submit their vaccination status by Oct. 15 to be included in the drawing.

The new data published Friday by the system and data from UW-Eau Claire show three out of 12 comprehensive universities have hit the 70 percent vaccination rate, those are UW-Milwaukee, UW-La Crosse and UW-Madison.

Here’s where UW System vaccination rates stand by campus as of Wednesday:

• UW-Madison, 91 percent
• UW-La Crosse, 75 percent
• UW-Milwaukee, 74 percent
• UW-Eau Claire, 69 percent
• UW-Whitewater, 64 percent
• UW-Oshkosh, 61 percent
• UW-Stout, 58 percent
• UW-River Falls, 55 percent
• UW-Green Bay, 55 percent
• UW-Superior, 50 percent
• UW-Platteville, 47 percent
• UW-Stevens Point, 46 percent
• UW-Parkside, 38 percent

While major universities in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois have required vaccinations for students and employees, Thompson has pushed voluntary vaccinations and has recently enlisted the help of Wisconsin comedian Charlie Berens in social media posts touting the “70 for 70” and “Vax Up!” campaigns.

As of Friday, 52.8 percent of the state’s population that is eligible to be vaccinated is fully vaccinated, or 3,071,904 people who are 12 years old and up, according to the state Department of Health Services.