GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Gov. Tony Evers visited Green Bay Wednesday to tour the newly-opened COVID vaccination site at Lambeau Field.
Bellin Health will partner with the Green Bay Packers and Brown County Public Health to stage a community COVID-19 vaccination site in the Lambeau Field Atrium.
Vaccine prioritization is occurring in accordance with the guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Click herefor the most up-to-date information on currently eligible groups.
The Lambeau Field vaccination clinic initially will operate in the Atrium and may expand to other areas of the stadium as supply and weather allow, said Bellin Health President and CEO Chris Woleske. With adequate supply, the site will have capacity to vaccinate 6,000 individuals per week initially and quickly ramp up to 10,000 individuals weekly.
"We know that every shot gives protection against serious illness and death," Woleske said.
Lambeau Field adds to more than a dozen NFL facilities that are being used as vaccine sites throughout the country.
Individuals will not need to be Bellin Health patients to be vaccinated at Lambeau Field, but appointments will be required. No walk-ins will be accepted at this time. Eligible individuals may call 920-445-7313 to add their names to an appointment waitlist, and Bellin looks forward to opening appointments via its MyBellinHealth scheduling portal in the near future.
Only individuals who qualify for the current phase of vaccination will be able to schedule vaccines. The Lambeau Field site will replace Bellin’s current Green Bay vaccination site on the Bellin Health Ashwaubenon clinic campus.
As of Wednesday, DHS reported more than 2 million Wisconsin residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 13 percent of those authorized have completed the series.
"Wisconsin's vaccination program - we've done well. We're heading in the right direction as a state," Evers said during the press conference. "We have to make sure that everybody has a chance to get a shot in the arm."
That opportunity will come about a week earlier than expected for more than two million people on Monday.
Those with certain medical conditions are set to be eligible for the vaccine, including people who have asthma, cancer, heart conditions, certain blood disorders and those who are overweight or pregnant.
This group was originally set to be eligible for the vaccine on March 29, but Evers said there should be enough vaccine supply and availability to get them in sooner.
"Just calling and interacting with vaccinators across the state of Wisconsin, it seemed like they were telling us that the cadence of people seeking vaccines was starting to slow down, so therefore we went to another group," Evers said.
Health officials said people in this group won't be required to show vaccinators medical records of their conditions, but said some vaccinators may want people to sign forms stating they have one of the conditions.