'We need to have more': Gov. Evers hopeful that Biden's vaccination plan will expedite rollout

 

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- As Wisconsin continues to lag behind other Midwest states in administering vaccines, there is some hope among lawmakers that President Joe Biden’s administration could turn things around.  

President Biden released a sweeping COVID-19 plan on his second day in office which includes expanding vaccine availability, opening community vaccination sites and a goal of 100 million shots in the first 100 days in office. 

Governor Tony Evers said he remains hopeful a new administration can help, but says it can only be successful if vaccine production ramps up.

“It’s my hope he can do everything in his power so we can get more vaccines into people’s arms,” said Evers. 

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says the state is receiving about 70,000 doses of the vaccine each week and was told by the federal government that amount of doses will remain unchanged for at least the next 3 to 4 weeks. 

“There’s absolutely no excuse, there are still several thousand vials on the shelf, that just doesn’t make any sense,” said Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine). 

Republican lawmakers are putting blame on the Evers administration for ranking one of the worst states when it comes to vaccinations, but the governor said it’s not his fault.

“If we want to do this as quickly as possible, we need to have more,” Evers said.

The governor also mentioned he wouldn’t do anything differently when it comes to rolling out the vaccine across the state during a media briefing. He argues without enough supply it continues to be a hurdle in putting vaccines in arms. 

“We do not create vaccines in the state, this is a federal responsibility,” Evers said.