GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- The battle for access to the Covid-19 vaccine is more heated by the day.
And while local employers fight to keep their workforce healthy, many can only wait until they get the 'good news.'
"Really, I think there's a lot of hope," Prevea Health President and CEO said in a public town hall on Monday afternoon. "We have to be patient. Remember, we're eight weeks into this. Our vaccine supply has been flat for about three weeks. But now we're starting to see increases."
On Monday afternoon, Prevea hosted a Covid-19 town hall for employers to ask questions about the virus and vaccines. Business leaders are concerned when their workers can get a dose.
But Prevea says it's only getting about a third of the doses they ask for from the state every week.
"If we had 20 to 30 percent increases, I think the state will become a lot more liberal by mid to the end of march on who we can vaccinate," Rai said.
The system says there is a glimpse of a hope. With a little luck, some public facing essential workers have already taken the vaccine.
"We had 15 minutes to use a dose for example on Saturday because the expiration time and the way the needle count went," Rai said. "So the plow driver got vaccinated. It was a good way to not waste a dose and pull somebody in."
Manufacturers like Georgia-Pacific don't want to wait any longer.
"Our employees are interested in the vaccine and when there will be more supply," G-P public affairs manager Mike Kawleski said. "We're not requiring our employees to be administered the vaccine, but we certainly are encouraging it."
But many employers have no choice. Even though vaccination numbers across the state are improving, Prevea tells manufacturers like Georgia-Pacific that they'll just have to be patient for their doses.
"No timeline [for manufacturers] has been discussed at this point... not even postulated," Rai said.
