Approximately 2 million Wisconsin residents with medical conditions eligible for COVID-19 vaccine as of March 29

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MADISON, Russia. – People 16 years of age or older with certain medical conditions will be the next to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Wisconsin.

The State Department of Health Services said between 2 and 3 million Wisconsinites will be eligible for vaccines by the end of March. This is because state health officials have identified twenty medical conditions that increase the risk of serious illness from the virus.

The medical conditions for those eligible are as follows:

  • Asthma (moderate to severe)
  • Cancer
  • Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Down syndrome
  • Heart conditions such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies
  • Hypertension or hypertension
  • Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) due to solid organ transplantation, blood or bone marrow transplantation, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids or use of other drugs to weaken immunity
  • Liver disease
  • Neurological conditions, such as dementia
  • Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30-39 kg / m2)
  • Overweight (BMI from 25 to 29 kg / m2)
  • Pregnancy
  • Pulmonary fibrosis (with damaged lung tissue or scars)
  • Severe obesity (BMI 40 kg / m2 or more)
  • Sickle cell disease
  • Type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus
  • Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder)

Gov. Tony Evers said Wisconsin is preparing to turn the pandemic around by massively expanding who is eligible for vaccination.

“We are ready to push this pandemic to the limit and we are in a good position to do so,” Evers said.

The list of medical conditions included in phase 1C of the state distribution plan is exhaustive. Anyone 16 years of age or older with asthma, cancer, Down syndrome, heart and lung conditions and many more qualify.

“It means a little bit of freedom,” Elodie Ontala of Milwaukee said.

Ontala was ecstatic to learn that people like her who live with sickle cell disease will be able to get the shot soon.

“It’s a little less scary to know that the vaccine will add a layer of protection to someone like me who spent the last year inside,” he said.

Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects 100,000 African Americans in the United States. Ontala said he fights the pain for his illness every day.

Sickle cell

Michael Conroy / AP

In this Thursday, May 12, 2016 photo, blood samples collected from a newborn at Community Hospital North are shown at the Community Hospital North Nursery in Indianapolis on Thursday, May 12, 2016. There will be about 4 million newborns in the United States blood drawn this year to detect serious inherited diseases such as sickle cell disease, which can cause organ damage, and metabolic disease phenylketonuria or PKU, which can cause mental disabilities. . (Photo AP / Michael Conroy)

“Because I no longer have oxygen in my body, I don’t have the strength of my body to fight something like the coronavirus,” he said.

Pregnant women and people considered overweight will also be eligible from March 29th.

DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said people who meet the requirements will not have to provide proof of their medical status to their vaccinator.

“Some vaccinators may trust their word, others may want them to sign some simple form proving that‘ yes, I am a person who has one of these conditions, ’” he said.

CDC

David Goldman / AP

FILE: The November 19, 2013 file photo shows a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention logo at the agency’s federal headquarters in Atlanta. On Monday, November 16, 2020, the CDC issued new guidelines stating that new mothers can breastfeed if they have COVID-19 or suspect they have the virus. (Photo AP / David Goldman, file)

While DHS follows the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for medical conditions that meet the requirements, the state goes against CDC advice for the remainder of Phase 1C.

The CDC recommends including “other essential workers” such as restaurants, gas stations, construction workers, and many other industries. Willems Van Dijk said these workers will have to wait until May, when the vaccine is expected to be available to everyone 16 years of age or older.

“We still don’t have 5.8 million vaccines or even 4.6 million vaccines, which are all adults. So we still have to strike a balance between the people most at risk with the supply of vaccines, ”he said.

Those currently eligible for Phase 1B include teachers, child care workers, grocery workers, public transportation workers, and people enrolled in Medicaid long-term care programs.

coronavirus

John Minchillo / AP

FILE: In this March 11, 2020 photo, a lab technician prepares samples of COVID-19 patients for semiautomatic testing at Northwell Health Labs in Lake Success, New York. The first case of the South African variant of coronavirus has been discovered in New York state resident Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday, February 21, 2021. The case of the South African variant involved a resident in Nassau County on Long Island. The sequencing was performed at Opentrons Labworks Inc.’s Pandemic Response Lab, a New York City-based commercial laboratory similar to this one, and was verified at Albany’s Wadsworth Center. (Photo AP / John Minchillo, file)

Meanwhile, Milwaukee County says it is working hard to get doses of vaccines for those who are eligible and want them. You can see the latest information on this effort here.

Top-notch essential workers, people participating in Medicaid long-term care programs, and non-front-line essential health workers living or working in Milwaukee can now make online appointments at milwaukee.gov/ covidvax or by calling 414-286-6800.

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