WISCONSIN

Wisconsin health officials urge thousands who got the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to get a booster shot

Molly Beck Hannah Kirby
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - State health officials are urging Wisconsinites who received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to get a booster shot to strengthen their immunity after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the plan and President Joe Biden received one on national television.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services on Monday released an extensive list of groups of people who should get a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine at least six months after receiving their second dose of the Pfizer immunization series.

Related:COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin hit a high this week not seen since early January

Related:The unvaccinated are nine times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, new state data show

They include:

  • People age 65 and older
  • All residents in long-term care facilities
  • People ages 50 to 64 years with certain underlying medical conditions:
    • Cancer
    • Chronic kidney disease
    • Chronic lung diseases, including COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma (moderate-to-severe), interstitial lung disease, cystic fibrosis, and pulmonary hypertension
    • Dementia or other neurological conditions
    • Diabetes (type 1 or type 2)
    • Down syndrome
    • Heart conditions (such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies or hypertension)
    • HIV infection
    • Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system)
    • Liver disease
    • Overweight and obesity
    • Pregnancy
    • Sickle cell disease or thalassemia
    • Smoking, current or former
    • Solid organ or blood stem cell transplant
    • Stroke or cerebrovascular disease, which affects blood flow to the brain
    • Substance use disorders

The health officials also are recommending thousands more may get a booster shot if they wish, including:

  • People ages 18–49 with the same underlying conditions
  • People ages 18–64 who are at higher risk of becoming infected with COVID-19, or transmitting the virus, because of their workplaces. Those occupations include:
    • Front line essential workers and health care workers, including first responders and staff at shared housing facilities
    • Education staff (teachers, support staff, childcare workers)
    • Food and agriculture workers
    • Manufacturing workers
    • Corrections workers
    • U.S. Postal Service workers
    • Public transit workers
    • Grocery store workers

“Our nation’s leading medical experts reviewed the available data and recommended COVID-19 vaccine booster doses be provided to some people who have received the Pfizer vaccine,” Department of Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake said in a statement. “Booster doses are another tool at our disposal to stop the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant and slow the spread of COVID-19 in communities throughout Wisconsin.”

Wisconsin residents can access their immunization record online (Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR) | Wisconsin Department of Health Services) to determine the date of their last vaccine shot. Booster shots may be obtained at least six months after the second shot of a vaccine series.

Biden received a booster shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on live television Monday afternoon to urge others to do the same, and to encourage the 23% of Americans who are not vaccinated to start the series of shots.

"One thing's for certain: A quarter of the country can't go unvaccinated and us not continue to have a problem,” Biden said.

The Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved booster shots for those who received Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Moderna has requested authorization for a lower dose of its initial vaccine to be used as a booster, which the FDA is considering and could approve in the coming weeks. Johnson & Johnson, which has been a single-dose vaccine, has not yet submitted a request for authorization to provide booster shots.

Recent state data show vaccinations have dramatically reduced the risk of hospitalization and death if infected with COVID-19.

Latest COVID-19 numbers

• New cases reported: 1,405

• New deaths reported: 2

• Number hospitalized: 1,095 (intensive care: 337); up 279 patients from a month ago

• Seven-day average of daily cases: 2,603 (up 1,029 cases from one month ago)

• Seven-day average of daily deaths: 12 (up 5 deaths from one month ago)

• Seven-day average positivity rate — as a share of all tests given: 7.9%

• Total cases since the start of pandemic: 718,810

• Total deaths: 7,930 

Latest vaccine numbers

• Total doses administered: 6,336,501

• Daily doses administered: 545

• Seven-day average of daily doses: 6,547

• Residents who have received one dose: 3,292,836 (56.6% of the population)

• Residents who are fully vaccinated: 3,116,066 (53.5% of the population)

• Adults who have received one dose: 3,080,007 (67.6% of the 18+ population)

• Adults who are fully vaccinated: 2,923,727 (64.2% of the 18+ population) 

• Residents ages 12 to 15 with at least one dose: 136,712 (46.1% of age group)

• Residents ages 16 to 17 with at least one dose: 76,070 (51.6% of age group)

• Residents ages 18 to 24 with at least one dose: 280,681 (51.4% of age group)

• Residents ages 25 to 34 with at least one dose: 412,795 (55.7% of age group)

• Residents ages 35 to 44 with at least one dose: 451,862 (63.4% of age group)

• Residents ages 45 to 54 with at least one dose: 462,176 (64.6% of age group)

• Residents ages 55 to 64 with at least one dose: 604,116 (73.4% of age group)

• Residents 65 and older with at least one dose: 868,377 (85.4% of age group)

Variant cases of concern

DHS, the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene and other laboratory partners regularly perform whole-genome sequencing on a portion of positive tests. The numbers below do not represent the total number of variant cases. 

• Cases of the alpha (B.1.1.7) variant: 3,611

• Cases of the beta (B.1.351) variant: 76

• Cases of the delta (B.1.617.2) variant: 5,681

• Cases of the gamma (P.1) variant: 348

Karen Weintraub and Elizabeth Weise of USA TODAY contributed to this report.

Contact Hannah Kirby at hannah.kirby@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HannahHopeKirby.