Wisconsin Teachers Prioritized for First Shipment of Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine

Thursday, March 4th, 2021 -- 12:00 PM

(AP) -Teachers will be prioritized to receive the first shipment of about 48,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine coming to Wisconsin next week, a bolster in supply that won’t be matched again for several weeks, the state’s deputy health secretary said Tuesday.

About 30% of Wisconsin public school districts, 131 out of 421, will be done vaccinating teachers by March 15, said Julie Willems Van Dijk, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

The state originally planned to prioritize schools for vaccine distribution, but didn’t need to do that because initial supply of the vaccine met the plans for distribution submitted by schools, she said.  Along with teachers, people over age 65 are also eligible for the vaccine in Wisconsin. More than 55% of them have been vaccinated.

Others newly eligible this week include child care workers, grocery store employees, public transit workers and those enrolled in Medicaid long-term care programs.

The state will be announcing the next eligibility group soon, and it could include those who have underlying chronic health conditions, Willems Van Dijk said. It could be up to two months before that next group, known as 1c, becomes eligible, she said.

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