The Wisconsin Department of Heath Services announced a new assistance hotline for the COVID-19 vaccine Thursday. Wisconsinites can call 844-684-1064 for all vaccine-related questions.
A call center is available to help people find vaccine doses, answer medical questions about the vaccine itself and help with registration, according to a press release.
Meanwhile, new reports of COVID-19 cases are on the decline in Wisconsin, based on the latest data published by DHS.
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DHS reported 677 new cases of the disease Thursday, bringing the average for the past seven days to 522 daily cases. Daily new cases have been declining since early January, when the average was around 3,000.
On Thursday, DHS reported 19 known cases of the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant, an increase of 13 from the previous week. There were 4,149 negative tests reported negative Thursday.
As COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin continue to decline, more of the state’s residents are being vaccinated against the disease.
A total of 1,568,329 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Wisconsin as of Thursday, with 58.3 percent of Wisconsinites age 65 and up receiving at least one dose of the vaccine so far.
DHS reported 986,387 Wisconsin residents had received at least one dose, representing 16.9 percent of the state population. As of Thursday, 548,343 people in Wisconsin, or 9.4 percent of the population, have received both shots, completing the vaccination series.
Increasing rates of vaccination have provided a sense of hope after a yearlong pandemic that has claimed the lives of 6,470 people in Wisconsin. There were 12 new deaths from COVID-19 reported Thursday.
Other DHS data from Thursday include:
- 565,808 total cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
- 3,204,956 total tests administered, 2,639,148 of which have been negative since the pandemic began.
- 26,330 people have been hospitalized because of the disease, or 4.7 percent of all positive cases, since the pandemic began.
- Daily testing capacity remains at 59,273, though only 4,826 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 a “critically high” level of COVID-19 activity. Two counties — Green and Iron — had a “very high” level of activity; 56 counties had a “high” level of activity; 10 counties had a “medium” level; and four had a “low” level Wisconsin’s overall COVID-19 activity level is “high“.
For more about COVID-19, visit Coronavirus in Wisconsin.
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