Wisconsin’s vaccine data numbers reveal a drop in the number of doses administered, so what’s behind this slowdown?

People now trickle into vaccination sites in Wisconsin, unlike the lines at clinics over a month ago.

DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk says, “We’ve seen a drop in demand in fact I would call it a pretty precipitous drop in demand and it has happened throughout the country.”

According to the Wisconsin DHS, vaccination rates have slowed because the number of residents needing to get the shot is shrinking.

Van Dijk says, “We only have 2.1 million eligible people currently right now who have not received a vaccine compared to 4.64 million a few months ago so just think about that. Over double the number of people for every dose out there a few months ago.”

Kurt Eggebrecht, Appleton’s Health Officer says, “I think what we’re seeing is we’re reaching that point of more than half the population has sought out and received one dose.”

At its peak last month, in Appleton, just over 3800 people received doses compared with last week’s total of roughly 1400.

Eggebrecht says, “So there’s a limited number of people left that we’re looking to move from being vaccine-hesitant or really thinking about it to actually doing it.”

Eggebrecht says Appleton is focused on one group because they’re lagging behind in vaccination rates. “We’re really looking at that 18 to the 35-year-old age group is really that target group; they are the last group that was eligible. So the time factor has been shorter for them to receive the vaccine.”

Van Dijk says, “Wisconsin may experience another increase in vaccination rates as children have been added to the eligibility list.”