Wauwatosa Fire Department To Receive First Vaccine Dose

WAUWATOSA, WI— Emergency management staff within the Wauwatosa Fire Department will receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a news release.

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 release said.

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.

The first doses in Wisconsin are going to frontline health care providers and skilled nursing facility staff and residents. After this group, the next in line for a vaccination are in the following order:

• People older than 75 years and non–health care frontline essential workers will be next in line for vaccinations.
• Then people aged 65–74 years, persons aged 16–64 years with high-risk medical conditions, and essential workers not included in the other groups will start receiving COVID-19 vaccine.

This information is subject to change based on further guidelines and vaccine supply, the release said.