Wauwatosa Emergency Medical Services Staff Receive Coronavirus Vaccine

Press release from the City of Wauwatosa:

January 6, 2021

This week, EMS staff within the Wauwatosa Fire Department will receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The EMS team represents some of the frontline people responding to patients at risk throughout the pandemic. In the year 2020, the Wauwatosa Fire Department responded to 7,074 calls for fire and EMS service.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is responsible for coordinating logistics and allocation of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Wauwatosa Health Department is working with local and state partners, so that our area is prepared to get people vaccinated. Safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines will be an important tool in stopping the spread of the virus. However, it will take many months to vaccinate all Wisconsinites.

“The Wauwatosa Health Department has enrolled as a vaccinator and is working on plans to receive and administer vaccines in 2021. Our team has been working hard over the past 10 months to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and we are excited to play a role in this first step toward ending it. We have ongoing communication with DHS and will follow their guidance for vaccine distribution,” says Laura Stephens, Interim Health Officer.

We are currently in Phase 1A of the vaccine prioritization guidelines. This phase includes health care workers and residents and staff of long term care facilities. The first doses in Wisconsin are going to frontline health care providers and skilled nursing facility staff and residents.

After we vaccinate those in Phase 1A, Phase 1B will likely include persons aged ≥75 years and non–health care frontline essential workers. Then we anticipate in Phase 1C, persons aged 65–74 years, persons aged 16–64 years with high-risk medical conditions, and essential workers not included in Phase 1B will start receiving COVID-19 vaccine.

This information is subject to change based on further guidelines and vaccine supply.

As we prepare to vaccinate more people in the Wauwatosa area, more information will be published on wauwatosa.net. View current frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine in Wauwatosa.

This press release was produced by the City of Wauwatosa. The views expressed here are the author’s own.