Gone are the days of Milwaukee county health officials telling people to wait their turn for the COVID-19 vaccine. Officials are now trying to convince everyone eligible, that’s all Wisconsinites 16 and older to get one now. And they know they’re talking to some that need convincing.
Dr. Ben Weston, with the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management, said, “The vaccines are safe, and they are effective. The one thing that all the vaccines have in common is the efficacy against hospitalization and death. And that's 100%. Each of the available vaccines has shown 100% protection against hospitalization and death. [You don’t] want to be the person who gets sick and gets hospitalized while trying to decide if you want to get the vaccine.”
In the most recent surveyfrom the Kaiser Family Foundation that came out in the end of March, about 32% of respondents nationwide had already gotten the vaccine. Thirty percent said they would get the vaccine as soon as possible. While 37% said they’d “wait and see,” get one only if required or definitely would not get one.
Weston knows that means Milwaukeeans already on board with the vaccine need to become ambassadors.
“If you've received the vaccine, talk to your family, your friends, your neighbors about your experiences. And if you're in the health care field, talk to your patients about the vaccine. I talk to every single patient I meet in the emergency department about the vaccine,” he said. “It's amazing what a two-minute conversation can do to clarify myths and help someone to promote their own health and their wellbeing through vaccination.”
You can find a vaccination site near you by visiting healthyMKE.com.
