COVID-19: Vaccine Data

Important updates regarding our data

Our goal is to provide the highest quality COVID-19 data with full transparency. In recent weeks, DHS has been able to ramp up data quality assurance efforts in the Wisconsin Electronic Disease Surveillance System (WEDSS), which includes correcting case status from "confirmed" or "probable" where appropriate, ensuring completeness of data fields, and reducing unknowns. Due to these efforts, data displayed on the website may change over time. In particular, dashboards and data tables that track cumulative cases or deaths, as well as those showing newly reported numbers each day may appear lower than expected - in some counties, substantially lower or even negative. For more information on this effort, and details on why the cases and deaths might go up or down from one day to the next, visit our Data 101 webpage.

For the most accurate picture of COVID-19 in Wisconsin, reference our data that show cases by date of onset or diagnoses and deaths by date of death.

Jump to specific COVID-19 chart on this page:

The federal government allocates COVID-19 vaccine to Wisconsin based on population size. Once the vaccine is allocated, Wisconsin places an order with the federal government so they know exactly where to send the vaccine. Orders may not include the entire federal allocation due to timing of allocations and balancing of first and second dose distributions. For the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, doses are shipped first to regional hospitals (called hubs) before going on to locations where they will ultimately be administered. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccines are shipped directly to locations that will give vaccine. Similar to ordering a package online, once vaccine is shipped it can still take several days to reach its final destination. Once the vaccine arrives at a location, they are able to begin vaccinating the populations recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and State Disaster and Medical Advisory Committee (SDMAC) as soon as they are able.

Demographic information such as sex, race, and ethnicity are not required to be reported in the Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR). Additionally, WIR cannot store multiple race variables for a single vaccination record, regardless of how many are reported. As such, demographic breakdowns of vaccine administration by sex, race, and ethnicity will be incomplete and imprecise. However, this data is a critical tool that provides insight into the vaccine program and helps inform decisions to ensure vaccine distribution is fair and equitable.

Systemic barriers and social factors including access to quality health care, housing, transportation, and job opportunities, often referred to as systemic racism, has exacerbated the disparate impacts of COVID-19 experienced by Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other communities of color in Wisconsin, including disparities in vaccine rates. Through targeted distribution and strategic outreach with community stakeholders, Wisconsin is making deliberate choices to reduce barriers to access the COVID-19 vaccine and provide much-needed relief to communities that have withstood the worst of this pandemic.

Data on this page may differ from data reported on the CDC COVID Data Tracker due to the fact that data may be updated on different schedules and reflect data "as of" different dates or times of day. There may also be a delay between the time a vaccination record appears in the state system and when it is received by CDC. To learn more about vaccination data, visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) webpage.

We plan to update allocation and provider data every Tuesday by 2 p.m and administration data daily by 2 p.m.

 

Understanding our data: What does this chart mean?

Allocation and Administration tab: This tab provides an overview of the total number of all COVID-19 vaccine doses made available to Wisconsin by the federal government and the total number of vaccine doses that have been given by Wisconsin vaccinators.

The state allocation represents all doses distributed by DHS, including doses allocated for the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program (a subset of the total allocation). This number includes both first and second dose allocations. Doses are allocated based on Wisconsin's population size compared to that of other states, regardless of the state's vaccination phase. You can hover over the total allocation to view a specific breakdown for the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program residents and staff. The remainder of the total allocation are doses made available by the federal government for the other populations that qualify for vaccination based on Wisconsin's current eligibility phase.

The federal government also allocates doses directly to specific programs to support vaccination efforts throughout the state. These programs include the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program and the Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program, which provides direct allocations to federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) targeting underserved communities. Doses for these programs are allocated directly from the federal government to pharmacy and health center partners and are NOT included in Wisconsin's state allocation.

Total number of vaccine doses administered represents all COVID-19 vaccine doses that have been given by Wisconsin vaccinators and reported to the Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR). This includes doses administered through both the Federal Long-Term Care and Retail Pharmacy Programs, doses reported by Tribal health sites that receive vaccine from Indian Health Services (IHS), and some Veteran Affairs (VA) clinics. The total includes Wisconsin residents and non-residents who received a COVID-19 vaccine in the state. This tab also displays total administered doses according to vaccine manufacturer. 

The vaccine doses administered in Wisconsin by day graph breaks down total doses administered each day, and the orange trend line represents the average number of doses administered per day over the past seven days.

Provider tab: This tab displays data on vaccine doses administered by vaccine provider type. The bar graph shows the proportion of all doses administered by vaccine provider type and the line graph shows the number of doses administered per week for each type. The Other facilities category includes doses administered by colleges and universities, correctional facilities, long-term care facilities, FQHCs, rural clinics, and other organizations that may provide vaccines for their staff or patients.

About our data: How do we measure this?

Data source: The Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR)

Every night at 11:30pm we extract vaccine administration data from WIR that will be reported on the DHS website by 2:00pm the following day. WIR is a live system and providers are constantly sending immunization data. Therefore, data will look different if it is extracted at a different time of day.

Vaccination administration: The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccines administered. The Vaccine Distribution Summary includes all vaccine doses administered by Wisconsin vaccine providers. This includes doses administered to people who resided out-of-state, but who live, work, or study in Wisconsin and qualify for vaccination in-state. This provides information to track the allocation, distribution, and administration of vaccine by Wisconsin's vaccinators. The COVID-19 Vaccines for Wisconsin Residents dashboard displays data for Wisconsin recipients of the vaccine. This information is used to inform vaccination coverage for the state.

Vaccine dose: One vaccine dose is one vaccine product (like a shot or a nasal spray). Some vaccines require two or more doses to protect you fully against a disease. Other vaccines give you enough protection to fight the disease after just one dose or shot.

Series completion: Many vaccines require multiple doses spaced out by weeks, months, or years to provide the best protection against a disease. Once someone receives the recommended number of doses within the correct timeframe, their series is considered complete.

A person can complete their Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine series if they get their second dose at least 21 days after their first dose.

A person can complete their Moderna COVID-19 vaccine series if they get their second dose at least 28 days after their first dose.

A person can complete their Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine series with only one dose. This means that doses of Johnson & Johnson will be counted in both categories of the COVID-19 Vaccines for Wisconsin Residents dashboard. Anyone looking at these metrics should not add the two together to get total doses administered. The "Completed series" totals are a subset of the "At least one dose" totals.

Vaccine locations: A doctor’s office, pharmacy, local or tribal health department, or other location where people can get their COVID-19 vaccines.

Vaccine record: A list of all vaccines an individual has received along with information about the vaccine, such as name of the vaccine and which provider gave the vaccine.

Vaccination coverage: An estimated percentage of the whole population who have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine or completed the vaccine series. This helps us understand how well communities are protected from COVID-19. It also helps us see which areas and groups are less protected against COVID-19 so we can take action to help improve vaccination coverage and protect everyone from COVID-19.

Population estimates: U.S. Census Bureau annual state population totals.

Please note: Data reported prior to February 11, 2021 utilized population estimates from the Wisconsin Interactive Health Statistics (WISH) query system. These estimates use the U.S. Census, American Community Survey, and data from the Department of Administration to produce statewide and county-level population estimates by age groups, sex, race, and ethnicity for non-Census years. To promote transparency in the COVID-19 vaccination response and to allow for comparisons between states and other jurisdictions, DHS will now be using the same population estimates used by the CDC.

Data shown are subject to change. For more information, see the data FAQ. Some examples of corrections or updates that affect an area’s coverage include:

  • Removing duplicates or merging and consolidation of records
  • Updating a patient's address to a different county or state

Back to a list of charts on this page.


 

Understanding our data: What does this chart mean?

Vaccines are one of the best tools we have to protect our communities against COVID-19. As with our other tools, vaccines work best when everyone gets them. DHS is working to get COVID-19 vaccine to Wisconsinites as equitably, quickly, and safely as possible.

This dashboard displays various data on COVID-19 vaccines administered to Wisconsin residents. It provides breakdowns of vaccines administered by county, healthcare emergency readiness coalition (HERC) region, age, sex, race, and ethnicity. The dashboard also presents the total number of doses administered to Wisconsin residents each week. Data in this dashboard represent the county or HERC region in which the individual who was vaccinated lives, not where they received their vaccine.

Percentages represent the vaccine coverage of the selected geography or demographic group. This helps us understand how well communities are protected from COVID-19. It also helps us see which areas and groups have fewer individuals being vaccinated so we can take action to help improve coverage and protect everyone from COVID-19.

Please note: Demographic data such as sex, race, and ethnicity are not required to be reported in WIR. Therefore, this data may not be available for all individuals who have received a COVID-19 vaccine. As patient information is updated or completed in WIR, we expect to see the number of vaccinations reported without demographic information to decrease.

About our data: How do we measure this?

Data source: The Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR)

Every night at 11:30pm we extract vaccine administration data from WIR that will be reported on the DHS website by 2:00pm the following day. WIR is a live system and providers are constantly sending immunization data. Therefore, data will look different if it is extracted at a different time of day.

Vaccination administration: The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccines administered. The Vaccine Distribution Summary includes all vaccine doses administered by Wisconsin vaccine providers. This includes doses administered to people who resided out-of-state, but who live, work, or study in Wisconsin and qualify for vaccination in-state. This provides information to track the allocation, distribution, and administration of vaccine by Wisconsin's vaccinators. The COVID-19 Vaccines for Wisconsin Residents dashboard displays data for Wisconsin recipients of the vaccine. This information is used to inform vaccination coverage for the state.

Vaccine dose: One vaccine dose is one vaccine product (like a shot or a nasal spray). Some vaccines require two or more doses to protect you fully against a disease. Other vaccines give you enough protection to fight the disease after just one dose or shot.

Series completion: Many vaccines require multiple doses spaced out by weeks, months, or years to provide the best protection against a disease. Once someone receives the recommended number of doses within the correct timeframe, their series is considered complete.

A person can complete their Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine series if they get their second dose at least 21 days after their first dose.

A person can complete their Moderna COVID-19 vaccine series if they get their second dose at least 28 days after their first dose.

A person can complete their Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine series with only one dose. This means that doses of Johnson & Johnson will be counted in both categories of the COVID-19 Vaccines for Wisconsin Residents dashboard. Anyone looking at these metrics should not add the two together to get total doses administered. The "Completed series" totals are a subset of the "At least one dose" totals.

Vaccine locations: A doctor’s office, pharmacy, local or tribal health department, or other location where people can get their COVID-19 vaccines.

Vaccine record: A list of all vaccines an individual has received along with information about the vaccine, such as name of the vaccine and which provider gave the vaccine.

Vaccination coverage: An estimated percentage of the whole population who have received a COVID-19 vaccine. This helps us understand how well communities are protected from COVID-19. It also helps us see which areas and groups are less protected against COVID-19 so we can take action to help improve vaccination coverage and protect everyone from COVID-19.

Population estimates: U.S. Census Bureau annual state population totals. 

Please note: Data reported prior to February 11, 2021 utilized population estimates from the Wisconsin Interactive Health Statistics (WISH) query system. These estimates use the U.S. Census, American Community Survey, and data from the Department of Administration to produce statewide and county-level population estimates by age groups, sex, race, and ethnicity for non-Census years. To promote transparency in the COVID-19 vaccination response and to allow for comparisons between states and other jurisdictions, DHS will now be using the same population estimates used by the CDC.

Data shown are subject to change. For more information, see the data FAQ. Some examples of corrections or updates that affect an area’s coverage include:

  • Removing duplicates or merging and consolidation of records
  • Updating a patient's address to a different county or state

Back to a list of charts on this page.


 

How can I download DHS COVID-19 data?

All DHS COVID-19 data is available for download directly from the chart on the page. You can click on the chart and then click "Download" at the bottom of the chart (gray bar).

To download our data visit one of the following links:

You can find more instructions on how to download COVID-19 data or access archived spatial data by visiting our FAQ page. The data dictionary (PDF) provides more information about the different elements available in the data above.

Last Revised: May 18, 2021

 Join our email list - Sign up to receive weekly email updates about the COVID-19 response in Wisconsin.