Walk-In Vaccine Clinics Open to Everyone

The Milwaukee Health Department announced Tuesday it has opened two large walk-in vaccination sites to the general public.

Any resident of the City of Milwaukee 16 years or older can now go to sites at North Division High School, 1011 W. Center St., or South Division High School, 1515 W. Lapham Blvd., on Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. until April 16th, without an appointment and seek vaccination. This announcement came one day after the state officially made everyone 16 or older eligible for the vaccine.

The vaccine site at the Wisconsin Center, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave., was chosen to be part of a pilot-program of federally run community vaccination clinics. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) stepped in to provide additional staff and resources, and the federal government committed to provide 3,000 doses a day, seven days a week directly to the location.

This new allocation is outside of the state’s weekly allocation. The city can also take 1,000 doses off the top and use them at other vaccination sites in the city.

Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson said the city was taking 1,000 doses to use at the North Division and South Division walk-in sites. She and Mayor Tom Barrett said that the added capacity at the Wisconsin Center was allowing the city to focus its resources and staff on community vaccination clinics.

Previously, these sites were only open to residents of 10 ZIP codes that ranked highest on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index.

The ZIP code program for the walk-in vaccine sites was intended to make the vaccination process easier for populations that have been the most hard-hit by the pandemic, and who, based upon the social vulnerability index, would likely face the greatest barriers to accessing the vaccine.

Wisconsin is enjoying one of the most successful vaccine rollouts in the country. Opening these walk-in clinics to the public is the latest expansion of access to the vaccine in a program that is already a month ahead of schedule. Approximately one month ago the state announced it would open vaccine eligibility to the general public by May 1st. Last week that was moved up to April 6th.

As of April 6th, 33.4% of Wisconsin residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 20.4% are fully vaccinated. In the city of Milwaukee, 22.4% of the city has received at least one dose of vaccine and 11.2% are fully vaccinated. 

On Monday, the Wisconsin Center administered 1,000 first doses and 1,052 second doses, Johnson said. Last week, before eligibility was expanded to the general public, the city administered 1,538 doses at North Division High School and 1,000 doses at South Division High School.