St. Croix County health officials plan to vaccinate teenage health-care workers this week
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St. Croix County Wisconsin Public Health Department plans to vaccinate teenage health care workers later this week in their battle against COVID-19.
"Some days it feels like we just started, some days it’s like ‘When is this going to be over and how can we be going at this pace?,’" said Kelli Engen, public health administrator for the county.
Later this week, Engen’s office will administer the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to some of the county’s younger residents.
"Only one of those vaccines has been approved for the 18 and under population, we actually have the Pfizer vaccine in St. Croix County," Engen said.
The teens, who can be as young as 16-years-old, will receive the Pfizer vaccine are in the health care industry in St. Croix County, often working through school-certified nursing assistant programs, Engen said.
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"We know that we have CNA’s that are working that are 16 or 17 years old," Engen said.
A vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Royal Victoria Hospital, in Belfast, Tuesday Dec. 8, 2020. The United Kingdom, one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus, is beginning its vaccination campaign, a key step toward eventually ending the pandemic.[AP/ Liam McBurney]
Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services reported on their website on Monday that 607,650 doses of the vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna have been allocated to the state, but only 373,100 have shipped, and more than 239,102 vaccines have been administered.
St. Croix County Health started a vaccine notification program to let residents know when they might be eligible to receive the vaccine from the county.
"We’re gathering a ton of names to let people know, so we’re storing up these names so when it is their time as we move through the phases of the vaccine roll-out, we will have contact for them," Engen said.