5.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, Wisconsin on verge of 50% getting a shot
Hospitalizations hit new lows Friday
MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) - Wisconsin is on the verge of having 50% of its population getting vaccinated against COVID-19 after vaccinators report administering more than 5.5 million doses (5,501,512).
The state Department of Health Services says the percentage of Wisconsinites getting at least one shot of a vaccine edged up one-tenth of a percentage point to 49.9%, which is 2,905,832 people. This includes 60.9% of adults, more than 36% of 16- and 17-year-olds, and almost 27% of kids 12 to 15.
To date, 45.8% of Wisconsinites are fully vaccinated, which is 2,668,140 people, including 56.3% of adults, more than 30% of 16- and 17-year-olds, and almost 20% of kids 12 to 15.
After rising this week, reversing a weeks-long trend, the 7-day average of new coronavirus cases plunged Friday from 78 to 71 cases per day. The state says it confirmed just 75 new cases in the last batch of test results. A total 612,507 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Wisconsin in the past 17 months. The state did not report the latest 7-day average for the positivity rate, which was most recently 0.7% of all test results.
The death toll went up to 7,280 people since the first deaths in March, 2020. The DHS says only 1 of the 7 deaths just reported to the state happened in the past 30 days. The state is still averaging just 1 death per day. In WBAY’s viewing area, only Sheboygan County saw its death count go up. The death rate is 1.19% of all coronavirus cases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says nearly all COVID-19 deaths occurring in the United States now are people who are not vaccinated. People who received the vaccine accounted for just 0.1% of COVID-19 hospitalizations and 0.8% of COVID-19 deaths in May (see related story).
Figures from the DHS on Thursday showed the more dangerous delta variant of the COVID-19 virus hasn’t grabbed a hold in Wisconsin. Random sampling of COVID-19 cases only found 36 instances of the delta variant in the state since April. It accounted for 0.5% of the samples in the Northeast hospital emergency readiness region, none in the Fox Valley region, and 0.2% of samples statewide -- a far cry from the 20% of infections nationwide. For comparison, the alpha variant, which was first identified in the U.K. last fall, was found in 36.6% of samples from the Northeast counties and 18.6% of samples in the Fox Valley.
The Wisconsin Hospital Association reports fewer than 100 people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 -- the first time we’ve seen that in our records going back to last August 1. The WHA says there are 96 patients in hospitals statewide, with 31 in intensive care. That’s 5 fewer patients in ICU than Thursday, and 7 fewer in hospitals overall.
Hospitals in the 7-county Northeast health care region are also treating fewer COVID-19 patients. They have 11 total, with 3 in ICU -- 2 fewer in ICU than Thursday and 1 fewer patient overall. For a third day, Fox Valley hospitals reported 4 COVID-19 patients, including 2 in ICU.
DHS numbers tell us 37 people were hospitalized in the last 24-hour period. That’s in line with the 7-day average of 36 hospitalizations per day by our estimate. We caution that we don’t have accurate daily numbers for Saturday and Sunday since the DHS stopped reporting on the weekends.
Since February 5, 2020:
- 612,507 confirmed coronavirus cases
- 7,280 deaths
- 32,050 hospitalizations
- 2,312 cases still active
- 602,570 considered recovered
VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY POPULATION (FRIDAY)
| County (Population) (Health region) | % of population (change from previous report) | Completed % of population (change from previous report) |
|---|---|---|
| Brown (264,542) (NE) | 49.6% (+0.0) | 46.3% (+0.1) |
| Calumet (50,089) (FV) | 44.6% (-0.1) | 41.0% (+0.0) |
| Dodge (87,839) | 39.9% (+0.1) | 37.1% (+0.1) |
| Door (27,668) (NE) | 65.4% (+0.0) | 62.1% (+0.1) |
| Fond du Lac (103,403) (SE) | 42.6% (+0.1) | 39.6% (+0.2) |
| Forest (9,004) | 41.4% (-0.1) | 39.5% (+0.0) |
| Florence (4,295) (NE) | 43.6% (+0.0) | 41.7% (+0.0) |
| Green Lake (18,913) (FV) | 43.8% (+0.2) | 41.1% (+0.2) |
| Kewaunee (20,434) (NE) | 40.7% (+0.1) | 39.0% (+0.1) |
| Manitowoc (78,981) (NE) | 46.8% (+0.1) | 44.0% (+0.3) |
| Marinette (40,350) (NE) | 41.2% (+0.1) | 38.5% (+0.1) |
| Menominee (4,556) (FV) | 51.7% (+0.5) | 47.8% (+0.7) |
| Oconto (37,930) (NE) | 41.6% (+0.0) | 39.7% (+0.2) |
| Outagamie (187,885) (FV) | 49.6% (+0.4) | 45.2% (+0.4) |
| Shawano (40,899) (FV) | 36.5% (+0.2) | 34.2% (+0.2) |
| Sheboygan (115,340) (SE) | 48.3% (+0.1) | 44.7% (+0.2) |
| Waupaca (50,990) (FV) | 42.6% (+0.3) | 39.6% (+0.4) |
| Waushara (24,443) (FV) | 34.8% (+0.3) | 33.1% (+0.3) |
| Winnebago (171,907) (FV) | 47.6% (+0.1) | 43.9% (+0.3) |
| NORTHEAST REGION (474,200) (NE) | 228,946 (48.3%) (+0.1) | 214,830 (45.3%) (+0.1) |
| FOX VALLEY REGION (549,682) (FV) | 253,107 (46.0%) (+0.1) | 233,132 (42.4%) (+0.3) |
| WISCONSIN (5,822,434) | 2,905,832 (49.9%) (+0.1) | 2,668,140 (45.8%) (+0.2) |
State health officials are promoting the CDC’s Vaccine Finder website to make it easier to find and schedule appointments near you. You can also CLICK HERE for the First Alert Vaccine Team’s guide to vaccine clinics and vaccinators, including phone numbers and websites to make appointments and information on free rides to appointments.
FRIDAY’S COUNTY CASE AND DEATH TOTALS (counties with new cases or deaths are indicated in bold) **
- Brown – 31,954 cases (+3) (251 deaths)
- Calumet – 5,843 cases (51 deaths)
- Dickinson (Mich.) - 2,410 cases (59 deaths)
- Dodge – 11,994 cases (+2) (177 deaths)
- Door – 2,631 cases (24 deaths)
- Florence - 451 cases (13 deaths)
- Fond du Lac – 12,624 cases (+3) (126 deaths)
- Forest - 966 cases (23 deaths)
- Gogebic (Mich.) - 1,043 cases (23 deaths)
- Green Lake - 1,614 cases (19 deaths)
- Iron (Mich.) – 984 cases (43 deaths)
- Kewaunee – 2,377 cases (27 deaths)
- Manitowoc – 7,659 cases (74 deaths)
- Marinette - 4,237 cases (cases revised -1 by state) (67 deaths)
- Menominee (Mich.) - 1,795 cases (41 deaths)
- Menominee – 805 cases (11 deaths)
- Oconto – 4,538 cases (59 deaths)
- Outagamie – 20,842 cases (+1) (223 deaths)
- Shawano – 4,748 cases (73 deaths)
- Sheboygan – 13,885 cases (+0) (150 deaths) (+1)
- Waupaca – 4,971 cases (123 deaths)
- Waushara – 2,220 cases (+2) (35 deaths)
- Winnebago – 18,364 cases (+1) (201 deaths)
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Wisconsin Hospital Association and Michigan Department of Health do not update reports on weekends.
** Cases and deaths are from state COVID-19 reports, which may differ from local health department numbers. The DHS reports cases from all health departments within a county’s 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.
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