GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC26) -- The long-awaited coronavirus vaccine is coming to Wisconsin in December.
"This month we likely add another tool to our toolbox to help stop the spread with the approval and then arrival of the Covid-19 vaccine here in Wisconsin, Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said in Thursday's media briefing.
As a U.S. Government advisory panel met Thursday afternoon to endorse Pfizer's vaccine, local healthcare system leaders believe they'll have doses in hand in the coming days.
"We are in the process of prioritizing our team members to receive the vaccine at this time," Robert Citronberg, the Executive Medical Director of Infectious Disease and Prevention at Advocate Aurora Health, said in Thursday's media call. "So when the vaccine is available, which we anticipate will be sometime next week, we'll be ready to go and we'll start immunizing our team members."
But Wisconsin officials are not sure when the general public will get the vaccine. The state says the doses coming in the next few weeks will go to select groups of essential workers.
It's a scarce resource that's not going to meet the need for all healthcare workers right out of the gate, so how do we think about cascading within that tier?" Palm said.
With more than 400,000 healthcare workers across the state, hospitals are forced to pick and choose the employees who will receive the vaccine this month.
"We expect that hopefully in the next four to six weeks, we should be able to immunize all of our patient-facing team members who want to get a vaccine," Citronberg said.
Now, the FDA will be asked to approve it for distribution.
A Covid-19 vaccine is here.
Vaccination is the way out of this pandemic and we are excited about the next few days and weeks as we are able to launch this and partner in disseminating the vaccine," Aurora Chief Medical Officer Gary Stuck said. "So please look at that as a positive and encourage folks to take the vaccine."
As of Thursday afternoon, Governor Tony Evers said he does not know if Wisconsin will be receiving priority distribution.