MILWAUKEE — Health officials with the State's Medical Advisory Committee worked to approve additional groups next in line to get vaccinated in 1B Thursday morning.
Committee members say the challenge is two-fold, there are not sufficient vaccines at the moment and the logistics and distribution is still a work in progress but as more vaccines become available new groups will soon be eligible to receive a dose.
The 1B group now consists of an additional 1.6 million people which include 911 dispatchers, K-12 staff and post-secondary teachers, prisoners, IRIS, Family Care, children’s long term care workers, Katie Beckett program recipients, non-front line healthcare workers, Mink farmers, food industry workers (Grocery, companies in food manufacturing, hunger relief workers, and ag workers).
More than half of the committee members voted to move teachers to the front of the 1B group line, citing the challenges students are facing with virtual learning especially in rural areas.
"They do allow a vulnerable population, minors kids to go back to a sense of normalcy," said Azita Hamedani.
However, some committee members made the argument that each group is essential in their own way, therefore no group should go ahead of each other in 1B.
"The kids need to get to school to eat but we need the food chain to get the food," said Arthur Derese.
Those with chronic health conditions were not included in the group.
The next step is to define group 1C.