Nearly one million activate Wisconsin’s coronavirus tracking app
(The Center Square) – A lot of people in Wisconsin have opted into the state’s coronavirus tracking app.
The Department of Health Services on Tuesday said just over 930,000 people have activated the app on the iPhone, or downloaded the app on their Android or Google phones.
It’s not clear just how many people have received either an alert that they’ve been in close contact with someone who’s tested positive for the coronavirus, or who have been given codes for the app because they have tested positive.
Wisconsin launched the app, called the WI Exposure Notification system, last week.
DHS spokeswoman Elizabeth Goodsitt said there have been codes sent and entered into the app, but she does not have a specific number.
The app update came at the same time that DHS publicized coronavirus vaccine information for the first time.
As of Tuesday, the Department of Health Services said doctors and nurses have vaccinated 47,157 people in the state.
Wisconsin has been allocated 265.575 doses of the vaccine, 156,875 of those doses have been shipped to the state.
This week is also the beginning of vaccinations in Wisconsin’s nursing homes and assisted living facilities. CVS and Walgreens both announced they will start administering vaccines this week. The two have nearly 60,000 doses to use on people who live in a long term care facility in the state.
DHS figures it will take a few weeks to vaccinate everyone in a long-term facility who is at risk.
But not all vaccine news in Wisconsin is good.
Aurora Health on Monday said someone spoiled nearly 500 vaccine doses at one of its clinics over the weekend.
“We learned that about 50 vials of Moderna vaccine were inadvertently removed from a pharmacy refrigerator overnight. Our internal review determined that as a result of unintended human error, the vials were not replaced in the refrigerator after temporarily being removed to access other items,” Aurora Health said in a statement. “After successfully vaccinating about 17,000 team members over the last 12 days, we are clearly disappointed and regret this happened.”
