Urging patience, Milwaukee officials say COVID-19 vaccines limited

MILWAUKEE - Exactly one year ago Thursday, Jan. 21, the nation's first case of COVID-19 was identified in Washington state. Now, millions of Americans anxiously await their turn for a vaccine. 

Milwaukee County officials said they are vaccinating that first group -- those in Phase 1a -- as quickly as possible, but they're up against a limited supply. At the same time, they're working to clear up confusion over eligibility and availability. 

"Without a doubt, this is a confusing process," said Milwaukee County Director of Medical Services Dr. Ben Weston.

More than 30,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Milwaukee County so far.

"Just because you are eligible, doesn’t mean the vaccine will be available to you," Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said.

Local officials are urging patience, as they continue distributing shots to health care workers and others in Phase 1a. 

"The sooner we can get vaccine into the arms of our community, the sooner we can get to the end of the pandemic," Weston said.

While individuals 65 and older will be eligible to get the vaccine starting Monday, there's no guarantee doses will be available.

"Being the largest county in the state, we know that vaccinating this group in Milwaukee County will take some time," said Crowley.

Another point of clarification officials discussed Thursday is how to use the online tool healthyMKE.com. 

"This is not a registration tool," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said. "This is not where you would go to sign up for the vaccination."

Barrett said, instead, the site serves as a connector tool where those in the eligible category can register to request a vaccine. 

"Once connected, the vaccinator organization will work with the individual or the agency in need of a vaccine to coordinate times to receive it," Barrett said.

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Those not yet eligible can also use the site as an information tool -- to sign up for phase alerts.

"I want people to understand we are trying to get as much information as many vaccines as possible as quickly as we can," said Barrett.

Officials said the state is only getting about 70,000 vaccine doses per week, a supply they expect will stay the same for at least the rest of the month.