GREEN BAY, Wis (NBC 26)-- Wisconsin is in an elite crowd, as far as the percentage of people getting their first round of COVID-19 vaccines. According to the CDC Wisconsin ranks among the top ten states to get the first dose of the vaccine, into residents' arms.
It was only a few weeks ago when vaccination rates in Wisconsin were some of the worst in the country according to the CDC. But as of Monday, that trend continues to get better as Wisconsin has managed to become one of the top ten states for the percentage of people to get at least one dose of the vaccine. Healthcare leaders say, however, that we could be doing even better.
"Probably the number one hurdle right now is supply. We're getting about 37 to 38 percent of what we're requesting," says Dr. Ashok Rai the President of Prevea Health.
Dr. Rai says over the past six weeks several changes have been made at the state and federal level to bring Wisconsin's overall vaccination rate to more than 12 percent of the state's population.
"The biggest thing we learned is just patience. That we know that the doses will come to our community eventually and to be ready when they get here."
The Biden administration has stated that it's currently working on increasing the supply of vaccines that states receive. Right now, Wisconsin gets about 80-thousand doses a week but if more were available, Dr. Rai says healthcare leaders have the resources to get them used.
"To get to a large-scale operation makes it a lot easier to staff.... if we had the supply, we could hit 20 thousand a week across the state just at Prevea sites," adds Dr. Rai.
