Wisconsin DHS Official Believes State Will Hit Herd Immunity by Fall

Monday, May 24th, 2021 -- 1:01 PM

(AP) A key state health department leader is hedging on whether Wisconsin can attain COVID-19 herd immunity by mid-2021.

Department of Health Services Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk has previously said that 70% of Wisconsin’s population would need to be vaccinated to attain herd immunity and the state could reach that benchmark by July.

But vaccination rates have slowed dramatically and are now growing at only about 1% a week.  However, Wisconsin has recently administered 5 million doses of the vaccine.

Willems Van Dijk tells The Associated Press that it’s still possible Wisconsin reaches the 70% mark by July if vaccination rates increase but right now it appears the state won’t get there until September or October.

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