Several health care providers are beginning to give COVID-19 vaccinations to people aged 65 and older today, but many people in Dane County either don't use one of the three major providers or don't have a primary care provider.
Jae C. Hong
A medical staff member prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Tudor Ranch in Mecca, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021.
MADISON, Wis. Several health care providers are beginning to give COVID-19 vaccinations to people aged 65 and older today, but many people in Dane County either don’t use one of the three major providers or don’t have a primary care provider.
To make sure those people don’t fall through the cracks, Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC) have launched an online survey to make sure those who qualify still get a chance at getting vaccinated.
The survey is offered in both English and Spanish, and those who fill out the survey and do not have a health care provider in the area will be matched with a vaccinator in Dane County.
Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is considering challenges to laws that allow public health authorities to close schools to prevent the spread of contagious disease. In September, the court blocked a Public Health Madison & Dane County order requiring schools to delay in-person classes and has more recently blocked a similar health department order in Racine.
Both agencies were sued by the right-wing Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), which has also challenged repeated emergency declarations due to the pandemic and the statewide mask order.
Lawmakers and others who are pushing to require in-person schooling claim that the danger is minimal. “The scientific evidence has become increasingly clear that it is safe to reopen schools, yet many districts still don’t offer in-person instruction,” WILL states in a December blog post that endorsed Republican proposals to punish school districts that teach virtually.