MADISON, Wis. — Republicans in the legislature are criticizing Gov. Tony Evers and his administration for what they call a slow rollout of the vaccine.
Evers said Monday the speed isn’t up to them.
A letter from state Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Town of Delafield, blasts the governor for Mercyhealth giving vaccines to teachers in Janesville while “hundreds of vulnerable 1As next door in Waukesha County … have not been vaccinated.”
It tacks on to criticism the GOP has for Evers when it comes to vaccines, including during an Assembly Committee on Health meeting last week, where lawmakers questioned DHS Deputy Secretary Lisa Olson on the process. They noted how Wisconsin fairs compared to other Midwestern states, at or near the bottom in terms of percent population that’s received a shot.
When it comes to Janesville – DHS told News 3 Now that Mercyhealth should save or pass along extra doses instead of going out of approved order.
Evers told reporters in Green Bay Monday that getting to everyone will take patience, even if they are likely next in line.
“We have to make sure that people are patient,” he said. “We can’t do 900,000 of 65 and older people in one day. It takes time. That’s how we move forward that’s how every other state is moving forward too.”
He and his administration said they can only go as fast as supply will allow, and shipments from the federal government are announced week to week. Evers said the bureaucratic process of deciding the next group and having the public weigh in is not what’s slowing the state down.
“The issue has been we don’t have enough to move things forward,” Evers said. “We could put everyone in tomorrow if we wanted but that would be foolish because we don’t have the vaccine to put everyone in.”
Republicans have suggested that Evers accept help in this process – naming UW System president and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who joined Evers at the vaccination clinic on Monday.
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