70 Percent Of Oak Creek Has Received 1 COVID-19 Vaccine Dose
OAK CREEK, WI — The City of Oak Creek Health Department announced a new milestone has been reached in the city's vaccination rate against coronavirus—70 percent of residents have now recieved at least one dose of a vaccine as of Dec. 20, the department announced via Twitter on Dec. 25.
The city's single-dose rate outpaces that of much of Wisconsin, where statewide 61.7 percent of people have recieved at least one dose and 58 percent have completed a vaccine series, Wisconsin Department of Health Services data show. On top of the vaccine series rates, over 1.5 million people in Wisconsin have recieved a booster dose as of Monday.
The Christmas announcement, however, comes as the omicron variant is shaking up many people's holiday plans. Concerns over the variant have rocked travel across the nation and even in Milwaukee and Madison, where several airlines delayed or canceled flights they say because of harsh weather and a "staff shortage" fueled by the omicron variant.
Anthony Fauci, a top U.S. expert on infectious diseases, said Monday that the omicron variant is going to get worse before it gets better, AP reports, although early data may show the variant may be milder than other variants.
Regardless, cases of the variant are surging and health officials in Wisconsin are urging immediate action to prevent hospitalizations and deaths. Getting vaccinated and a booster dose as soon as you are eligible is one of the top ways people can prevent illness and death, according to the Wisconsin DHS.
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Additionally, anyone with signs or symptoms of COVID-19 should get tested, regardless of their vaccination status.
Getting your vaccines "is critically important for mitigating surges in hospitalizations and deaths across our state," Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said in a DHS news release on Dec. 20.
Wisconsin hospitals are also urging people to get vaccinated as they say strains on the health care system continue. Advocate Aurora Health, a health system with facilities in Wisconsin and Illinois, recently took out a full-page ad in local newspapers urging people to do their part.
SEE ALSO: Readers Urged To Vaccinate In WI Health System's Full Page Ad
The strain on health care workers is "undeniable," the health system ad said, adding that said that doctors, nurses and others caring for communities have been hurting.
"And it's up to all of us to help," the ad said, "Because if we don't, it's going to get even harder for you and your family and friends to get help when you need it most."
There were 4,093 new coronavirus cases confirmed in Wisconsin on Thursday, as Department of Health Services data showed the seven-day average at 3,527 new cases per day.
There were 1,554 COVID-19 patients in hospital beds across Wisconsin on Friday, data from the Wisconsin Hospital Association showed. There were 96 intensive care unit beds available in the state.
Patch Editor Ethan Duran contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on the Oak Creek Patch
