BELOIT
Low COVID-19 vaccination rates continue to be a barrier to Wisconsin鈥檚 full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday during a visit to Beloit.
Beloit鈥檚 COVID-19 vaccination rate has lagged behind neighboring municipalities and the statewide rate since doses became widely available last year.
During his visit, Evers said low vaccination rates in varying Wisconsin communities were 鈥渁 barrier, period鈥 to the state emerging from the pandemic.
鈥淯nfortunately we鈥檝e had more than 11,000 people going on 12,000 people who have passed away during the pandemic so we will continue to try and get shots in arms,鈥 Evers said.
In Rock County, 63% of residents have received one dose and 59% of residents have completed vaccination. 糖心Vlog传媒 reports a first-dose vaccination rate of 63.8% and a completed vaccination rate of 60.3%. Statewide, 63.8% have received a first-dose and 60.2% are fully vaccinated, Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) data shows.
In the Town of Beloit, 72.8% of residents have received one dose and 67.2% of residents have completed vaccination, DHS reports.
Evers also said he would be willing to receive a second COVID-19 booster dose should it be approved by federal health regulators. On Feb. 19, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was considering an additional booster dose this coming fall season, but noted that ongoing studies would determine the path ahead.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 another booster, I will be right there,鈥 Evers said. 鈥淢aybe another booster dose would be appropriate. We will continue to do what we can do.鈥
New COVID-19 cases in Rock County continue to decline as the surge brought on by omicron appears to be fading.
In Rock County, 319 new cases were reported between Feb. 15 and Feb. 21 as the test positivity rate for the county was 11.4%. Compared to the previous seven-day reporting period, new cases dropped by 41.2% and the test positivity rate decreased 3.3%, according to CDC data.
Across Wisconsin, 9,024 cases and 156 additional virus-related deaths were reported between Feb. 15 and Feb. 21 as the statewide test positivity rate ranged between 5% and 7.9%, the CDC reports.