Wisconsin governor signs bill that allows expansion of COVID-19 vaccine administration

Photo: Morry Gash/Associated Press. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a member of Wisconsin's Electoral College, casts his vote at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Monday, Dec. 14, 2020.

Tommy Wiita
Updated: February 19, 2021 10:54 AM
Created: February 19, 2021 10:20 AM

On Friday, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill that will allow an expansion on who can administer the COVID-19 vaccine. The move would allow pharmacy technicians and students to administer the vaccines under certain conditions.

“While we work to get shots in arms as soon as we have supply available, we also want to make sure we’re maximizing our capacity by expanding the number of people who can administer those doses once we have them,” said Evers in a statement. “Getting vaccine doses to folks across our state continues to be our top priority, so we can recover and bounce back from this pandemic.”

Evers signed the bill, Assembly Bill 4, now 2021 Wisconsin Act 3, at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh following a tour of the campus' COVID-19 vaccination clinic that opened this week in partnership with Advocate Aurora Health of Oshkosh and the Winnebago County Public Health Department.

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The bill allows a pharmacy student who has completed two years of pharmacy school to administer a vaccine under the supervision of a healthcare provider who is authorized to administer vaccines, according to the Wisconsin governor's office. Additionally, more people would be allowed to administer vaccines under certain conditions, including the following:

The person has completed at least two hours in a course of study and training, approved by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education or the board, in hands-on injection technique and the recognition and treatment of emergency reactions to vaccines;
The person acts under the direct supervision of a pharmacist who has completed a course in study on topics relating to vaccination;
The person holds a current certification in basic life support or cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and
The person holds a certified pharmacy technician certification from either the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board or the National Healthcareer Association.

For more information on the recent bill signed by the Wisconsin governor, click here.