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Health officials in SE Wisconsin offer more COVID-19 vaccine incentives

Posted at 10:34 PM, Jul 07, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-07 23:34:56-04

Local health officials continue to offer incentives to get more people vaccinated against COVID-19.

Racine officials announced the Bucks have donated two player-signed basketballs for the city's vaccine drawing. Racine County residents have until July `17 to enter.

Wauwatosa announced it will begin a vaccine drawing on July 23.

"We’ve been talking to the Bucks because they have been such a fabulous partner with us on this to get people vaccinated, so we are talking with them about the possibility of doing another ticket giveaway for individuals who choose to get vaccinated by the Milwaukee Health Department at the Fiserv Forum Plaza in advance of the game," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said in a media briefing Tuesday afternoon.

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The Bucks partnered with the health department several times during previous series.

"I'm hopeful that we will be able to make someone’s dreams come true by allowing them the chance to watch a live NBA Finals game inside the Forum, so we’re working on it, stay tuned," Barrett said.

At North Shore Pharmacy in Shorewood, owner Kyle Beyer says people are still coming in for COVID-19 vaccinations.

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"We still do anywhere from six to 15 a day," Beyer said.

The Centers for Disease Control announced Tuesday the Delta variant is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States. Health officials say it is more contagious, and the best way to protect yourself is to get vaccinated.

State health data shows more than 16,000 variant cases of COVID-19 have been sequenced in Wisconsin, and 71 of those are Delta.

Data shows more than 47 percent of people in Wisconsin are fully vaccinated.

Officials aren't giving up on trying to reach the rest of the eligible population.

"A lot of times, the least effective person is going to be the person in the white coat, and we have to kind of understand that and respect that," Beyer said. "Lot of times it's going to be a family member that did or another person they trust to say, hey, this is safe, this is effective, this is why you should do it. And we're just going to meet them anywhere we can."

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Coronavirus in Wisconsin

More data on Wisconsin's vaccination progress here.

Find a vaccination site here.

Check out county-by-county coronavirus case numbers here.

More information: COVID-19 on the Wisconsin DHS website

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