One year of vaccinations

We had hoped it would be over by now. Instead, we are dealing with a rise in the Omicron variant, with case numbers rising again and hospitals filling up with Covid patients. It seems 2021 is ending about the same way it started. But let’s not lose sight of just how far we’ve come. In fact, it is unprecedented. In the year since the vaccine first became available in Wisconsin, more than 8.3 million doses have been administered. Never before have so many vaccines been administered in such a short amount of time. It really is remarkable. It has been a coordinated effort among scientists, governments and doctors. The vaccine was developed and approved in record time. Once the shots became available it quickly became easy to get one, for free no less. Significant effort has been made to get the shots to those facing barriers to getting the vaccines, and the number of those getting their shots continues to rise. 61.3% of Wisconsinites have gotten at least one dose. In La Crosse County, that number is 67%. Of course, we wish that number was higher, and we wish this pandemic was over. But as news of the virus continues to be largely bad, let’s not forget the hard work it took to get us where we are today.