County Launches At-Home Vaccinations

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley announced a new at-home COVID-19 vaccination program Thursday.

The county is calling it “Healthy Homes,” and it’s available to county residents that have trouble leaving their homes without assistance, or cannot leave their homes because it could worsen an existing medical condition.

“Milwaukee County is committed to doing everything we can to ensure that anyone who wants a COVID-19 vaccine can get one,” the county executive said.

Approximately 6% of Medicare recipients have trouble leaving their homes, according to a press release announcing the program, and that translates to about 9,500 county residents.

The county will respond to “community input in addition to existing lists and data from County and partner programs,” he noted, to make calls to people that may have trouble leaving their home to offer them the vaccine.

There is also a website for the program with intake forms for someone directly trying to access an at-home vaccine or someone helping another person access the at-home vaccine.

“It shouldn’t be the case that you aren’t vaccinated, or that your general health care takes a bad turn, just because you cannot access the medical system traditionally,”  Crowley said.

Vaccinators going into homes will also be trained to help residents connect to any other county services they may need like transportation or meal services. This is an integration of the Department of Health and Human Services ‘No Wrong Door’ care-model which is intended to make any county service accessible anywhere that a resident comes in contact with the county.

County Mask Rules Change

The county executive also announced updated masking rules for residents in county facilities and county employees.

Masking will continue to be required when indoors at all county facilities for both county employees and members of the public. But the public will no longer have to wear a mask when outdoors at county-owned properties. Though county employees will still have to wear a mask when social distancing is not possible outdoors at county owned properties and facilities.

“With more than 4,000 County employees, we must also consider how best to protect our dedicated workforce, who are critical to delivering essential services to the community every day,” said Crowley.

The county provides services to vulnerable populations and operates facilities, like the jail, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommend masking for, according to a statement from the county executive.

“The best path forward for Milwaukee County is for as many members of our community to be vaccinated as soon as possible,” the county executive said, “which means we must do everything we can to ensure that anyone who wants a COVID-19 vaccine can get one.”