MADISON, Wis. — Pharmacies can start providing vaccines to assisted living facilities in Wisconsin immediately rather than waiting until January 25, Governor Tony Evers announced Friday. The phase marks the second round of the federal pharmacy program in partnership with CVS and Walgreens; the first round included the state’s nursing homes.
Previously, the federal pharmacy program in Wisconsin had announced that they’d begin the first round of vaccinations at assisted living facilities in Wisconsin on January 25, a delay caused by a federal requirement that all vaccines be on hand before that program phase could begin.
“After careful planning and coordination, our vaccine team was able to successfully reserve enough vaccine doses to launch this program—those efforts will ensure our most vulnerable Wisconsinites are protected against COVID-19,” Evers said in a press release.
The DHS says that now pharmacies and assisted living facilities can choose to head into the second phase of the program before January 25 if they have enough vaccine and capacity to begin. The first round of nursing homes is expected to complete their first doses by January 18, according to the press release. The second phase of the program for assisted living facilities will require another 70,000 doses–or 140,000 doses for two shots.
Once the process for assisted living facilities begins, John Sauer of LeadingAge Wisconsin estimated on Wednesday that six weeks would be the minimum stretch of time needed before first visits were completed at the state’s roughly 4,500 assisted living facilities.
Nursing home residents in Wisconsin are more willing to opt in to the first opportunity to get a vaccine than the staff caring for them. Estimates from LeadingAge Wisconsin indicate that while more than 90% of nursing home residents are choosing to get a vaccine on the first visit, the average for nursing home staff falls between 60 and 70%.
One facility’s rate was as low as just a third of its staff, Sauer said. Several others, however, have staff vaccination acceptance rates that reach 80% or higher.
“Overall, out of the gate, we think an overall vaccination rate for staff in excess of 60% is actually quite good,” Sauer said.
As of Thursday, 11,712 residents and 13,590 staff at skilled nursing facilities have been vaccinated; 261 of the state’s 361 eligible nursing homes in the first phase of the federal pharmacy program have completed their first dose of the vaccine.
“We’ve given the direction to CVS and Walgreens to do the entire facility, to vaccinate everyone within the facility now we have enough vaccine in the system,” a DHS spokesperson said in a hearing on Thursday. “Certainly we’ll continue to look for ways alongside our partners to advance the scheduling and make sure we’re protecting those populations as quickly as possible.”
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