More than 50% of Wisconsin residents 16 and over have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose

Drake Bentley Mary Spicuzza
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
President Joe Biden announced his administration met the goal of administering 200 million shots in 100 days.

Half of Wisconsin residents 16 and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, a top state health official said Wednesday. 

"If I look at the 16 and over population, it's 51% approximately — of the people who are eligible," Julie Willems Van Dijk, deputy secretary for the state Department of Health Services, said in an interview with the Journal Sentinel. "So we're moving along on that population."

But she added that the state typically considers the total population, not just those who are currently eligible for COVID-19 vaccine, "because that's really what you need for community immunity."

By that measure, nearly 41% of Wisconsin's population had gotten at least one dose as of Wednesday.

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the United States has already met his goal of administering 200 million shots in his first 100 days. While here in the state, the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases dropped to 672 cases on Wednesday. This marks a decline in average cases for six consecutive days. 

More than 3.9 million doses have been administered in the state, with Pfizer making up for more than half of those doses. 

Biden also urged businesses to give workers paid leave to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

“No working American should lose a single dollar from their paycheck because they chose to fill their patriotic duty of getting vaccinated,” Biden said.

Since the beginning of vaccine administration, over 215 million doses have been administered. 

The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine remains halted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after it discovered six cases of blood clots in people who recently received that vaccine. 

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet on Friday to further discuss the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and provide a recommendation to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Ben Weston director of medical services at the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management.

"The instances of these blood clots continue to be extremely rare, about one case in every million people vaccinated," Weston said.

Track COVID and the vaccine in Wisconsin:Track the latest data on cases, deaths and our pace on vaccines

Wisconsin vaccine FAQ:Who's eligible, where to get it and what's next

Latest COVID-19 numbers

  • New cases reported: 626
  • New deaths reported: 3
  • Number hospitalized: 364 (intensive care: 105); up 144 patients from a month ago
  • Seven-day average of daily cases: 672 (up 273 cases from one month ago)
  • Seven-day average of daily deaths: 4 (down 2 deaths from one month ago)
  • Seven-day average positivity rate — as a share of all tests given: 3.4%
  • Total cases since the start of pandemic: 592,262 (9,009 active cases)
  • Total deaths: 6,721

Latest vaccine numbers

  • Total doses administered: 3,978,523
  • Daily doses administered: 38,821
  • Wisconsin residents with at least one dose: 2,368,010 (40.7% of the population)
  • Residents who are fully vaccinated: 1,677,365 (28.8% of the population)
  • Residents 65 and older with at least one dose:  810,682 (79.7% of 65+ population)

Contact Drake Bentley at (414) 722-3811 or DBentley1@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @drake_bentley.