MADISON, Wisconsin (WMTV) – Gov. Tony Evers and state health officials on Friday urged the federal government to send more of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Wisconsin after they were told on Thursday they would receive fewer doses than they thought.
“This is unacceptable,” Governor Evers said. “Wisconsin citizens deserve the vaccine the federal government promised.”
According to a press release, the state will only receive 35,100 doses of the vaccine. Governor Evers stressed that this is well below the 48,725 initially allocated to Wisconsinists. As of Friday, Wisconsin had about 452,000 positive cases and 4,315 deaths.
“Our health care workers and long-term care residents need this vaccine that is ready and available,” the governor said.
Officials asked the federal government to explain to them why vaccines are assigned the same way they are. Governor Evers noted that health workers work 24 hours a day to distribute the vaccine, but this weekend announcement of fewer shipments than expected makes logistics planning “incredibly difficult.”
Few explanations were offered about the delays, but senior Trump administration officials on Thursday cited confusion over semantics, while Pfizer said its production levels have not changed.
Several other states say they have also been told they would expect far fewer doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in its second week of distribution.
California, where an explosion of cases is causing intensive care units to reach the breaking point, will receive 160,000 fewer vaccine doses than state officials had predicted next week, a roughly 40% reduction.
Missouri health director Dr. Randall Williams said his condition will get 25% to 30% less of the vaccine next week than expected. A statement from the Iowa Department of Public Health says its allocation will be “reduced by up to 30%, but we are working to obtain confirmation and additional details from our federal partners.”
Michigan shipment will fall by about a quarter. Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire and Indiana have also been told they expect smaller shipments.
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