Eau Claire County crosses 50% vaccination threshold

Chris Vetter, The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.
·2 min read

Jun. 14—EAU CLAIRE — Eau Claire County reached the 50% COVID-19 vaccination threshold on Wednesday, and is now the 19th county in the state to reach that mark.

However, none of a dozen counties in western Wisconsin topped the state's overall vaccination rate in the past week, meaning the area is falling further behind the rest of state.

Eau Claire and St. Croix counties each vaccinated another 0.7% of its population in the past week, matching the state's rate. It is the second straight week that the state's vaccination rate was a 0.7% increase, down from 1.2% two weeks ago.

Trempealeau County (51.5%) is the only other county in the area that has topped 50% of its overall population having received at least one dose. The two counties are also the only ones in the region ahead of the state's overall 48.9% vaccination rate.

Wisconsin has now given the first dose of a vaccine to 2.84 million (48.9%), up from 2.80 million residents (48.2%) a week ago, and up from 2.77 million (47.5%) two weeks ago. Roughly 2.55 million Wisconsinites (43.8%) have completed their vaccine series, up from 2.475 million (42.5%) a week ago.

Roughly 83.8% of Wisconsin's seniors (age 65 and up) have now received at least one dose, up from 83.5% a week ago. Also, 66.2% of those ages 55 to 64 have also received their first dose, up from 65.5% a week ago.

The growth in new vaccinations is again among adolescents ages 12 to 15. A total of 70,531 youths (23.8%) have now received their first dose, up from 61,568 (20.8%) a week ago, and up from 53,431 (18.0%) two weeks ago.

In a breakdown by race, 46.9% of Asian Americans have now received their first dose statewide, with the white population at 45.5%, American Indian population at 31.6%, and Black population at 25.1%. About 10% of people who have been vaccinated didn't report their race or selected "other."

Dane and Door counties are still the only counties that have reached a 60% threshold of having its population with at least one dose.

However, the counties with the worst vaccination rates in the state have fallen further behind the state's average. Taylor (26.9%), Clark (27.4%) and Rusk (31.3%) saw modest increases in the past week. Overall, 9 counties in the state still haven't reached 40% vaccinated. The other counties are: Dodge, Dunn, Jackson, Monroe, Shawano, and Waushara counties.

With vaccinations dwindling, the state's Department of Health Services announced that six community-based vaccination clinics across Wisconsin, including one in Barron County, will gradually reduce hours of operation, beginning today.