MADISON, Wis. — As of March 1st, more groups of people are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, accounting for another 700,000 people across the state.
The Department of Health Services says the groups of people now eligible for the vaccine, in order of priority, are:
• Frontline health care personnel
– Anesthesia related team members
– Behavior health providers, including psychologists, therapists, counselors
– Certified nursing assistant, nursing assistant, nurse aide, medical assistant
– Chiropractors
– Clinical ethicists
– Dental services, including dentist, dental hygienist, dental assistants
– Direct care personnel, for example, people who provide direct care to patients, including in their homes (for example, personal care assistant; home health worker; adult day service providers; paid and unpaid caregivers in Family Care, Family Care Partnership, and IRIS; paid and unpaid caregivers of children in special needs programs, including Children’s Waivers, CCOP, B3, Children with Medical Complexity, CCF WAM and Katie Beckett Medicaid)
Emergency medical responders (EMR), including emergency medical technician/paramedic including all levels of EMRs
– Environmental services, food & nutrition, buildings & grounds in patient care setting
– Funeral home worker, coroners, and medical examiners
– Health care trainees
– Hospice workers
– Massage therapists
– Nurse, including community settings
– Long-term care facility inspectors and oversight staff
– Long-term care facility personnel (including those that work in 1-2 bed adult family homes and as supported living providers)
– Pharmacist/pharmacist assistant
– Phlebotomist and laboratory personnel
– Physician assistant/nurse practitioners
– Physicians (MD/DO – all settings)
– Public health workers providing vaccines and testing for COVID-19
– Radiation therapy technologists (RTTs)/radiologic technologists (RTs)
– Respiratory therapists
– Security personnel
– Spiritual care provider
– Social work, case management, Child Life staff (only those providing in-person support, including child welfare workers and adult protective services)
– Therapy services, for example, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy
– Transportation services to and from health care settings, for example, testing sites, dialysis centers, ambulatory care
– Other health care personnel who have CDC defined exposure
• Residents of long-term care
– SDMAC’s definition of residents of long-term care is: “adults who reside in facilities that provide a variety of services, including medical and personal care, to persons who are unable to live independently.”
• Police and fire personnel, correctional staff
– Correctional facility personnel
– Probation and parole officers
– DNR wardens
• Adults age 65 and older
• Education and child care staff
– All staff in regulated child care, public and private school programs, out-of-school time programs, virtual learning support, and community learning center programs.
– All staff in Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCAs.
– All staff in preschool and Head Start through K-12 education settings.
– Faculty and staff in higher education settings who have direct student contact.
• Individuals enrolled in Medicaid long-term care programs
– Members of Family Care and Family Care Partnership
– Participants in IRIS (Include, Respect, I Self-Direct)
– Children ages 16 years and older in the following programs: Children’s Long-Term Support Waiver Program, Katie Beckett Program, Children’s Community Options Program (CCOP), Children Come First, Wrap Around Milwaukee, Children with Medical Complexity Program
• Some public-facing essential workers
– 911 operators, utility and communications infrastructure, public transit, agricultural production workers (such as farm owners and employees), livestock breeding and insemination providers, farm labor contractors, crop support providers, livestock veterinarians, food production workers, retail food workers, grocery store workers, convenience store workers, gas station workers where groceries are sold, hunger relief personnel.
• Non-frontline essential health care personnel
– Public health, emergency management, cyber security, health care critical supply chain workers, support staff
• Facility staff and residents of congregate living settings
– Includes those living or working in employer-based housing, housing serving the elderly or people with disabilities, shelters, transitional housing and incarcerated individuals.
Those lower on the priority list are being told not to expect getting their vaccinations until April or May, depending on vaccine supply. DHS says they have not yet decided who will be in the next groups eligible.
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