About 13% of Wisconsinites live in multigenerational households, which face a greater COVID-19 risk

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Today we highlight our examination of higher COVID-19 risks for people living in multigenerational households.

The report by the Center for Public Integrity, with local reporting and data analysis by Wisconsin Watch’s Vanessa Swales, reveals that 13% of households in Wisconsin include multiple generations of adults, which increases their risk of contracting and spreading the virus. People of color — already at higher risk for the disease — also are more likely to live in such extended households, nationwide and in Wisconsin, data show.

Just a handful of states have formally recognized COVID-19’s threat to multigenerational households and prioritized them for vaccination. Wisconsin this month expanded vaccine eligibility to all state residents ages 16 and older, and it has funded programs to narrow the state’s wide racial disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations. But it is not among the states that prioritized multigenerational homes for vaccination.

Top Stories

The Fuller family, back left, Arva, and her daughter Paege, and her son (not pictured) are three generations living under one roof in Mississippi. They spent a year worrying that one person could catch the coronavirus and share it with Paege’s grandparents who live nearby, Willie and Mildred Belt, at left. Courtesy of the Fuller family

Wisconsin’s multigenerational homes face higher COVID-19 risk — Center for Public Integrity/Wisconsin Watch

The FDA and CDC have lifted the pause on Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, but many Wisconsin vaccinators are waiting for the green light from DHS — Channel 3000

Wisconsin not saying how many fully vaccinated residents have acquired COVID-19 — Wisconsin State Journal

COVID-19 vaccine supply exceeds demand in Kenosha County — Kenosha News

Pandemic imperiled non-English speakers more than others — Kaiser Health News

‘The next big one must be prevented’: The lessons the world can learn from epidemics that were contained — STAT

Biden administration advances emergency Covid workplace safety rules after weeks of delay — POLITICO

Weddings appear ready to bounce back after a year lost to COVID pandemic. ‘People are still looking for a way to celebrate.’ — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

SSM Health brings COVID-19 vaccine to Fourth Ward — Janesville Gazette

Here’s what the CDC says summer camps should do to prevent and respond to COVID cases — NPR

Quotable

“Inside-the-home transmission is what has been killing so many older people of color.”
Dr. Ashish Jha, a leading global public health expert and dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, speaking to the Center for Public Integrity

“What you’re seeing there is exactly what we hoped and wanted to see: As really high rates of vaccinations happen, hospitalizations and death rates come down.”
Jodie Guest, a public health researcher at Emory University, speaking to the Wisconsin State Journal

Data to note

Click on the image above to see Wisconsin DHS COVID-19 vaccine data, which is updated daily.

Here’s a look at the Department of Health Services’ vaccine dashboard, which showed Tuesday that 42.3% of Wisconsinites have received at least once vaccine dose, including 74.1% of those ages 65 and older. Meanwhile, 31.9% of Wisconsinites are fully vaccinated, including 80.4% of those older than 65. Racial disparities persist in distributing vaccines. The shares of Black, Hispanic and Native American residents to receive a dose remain below that of white residents.

Public health officials continue to urge Wisconsinites to wear masks and practice physical distancing until vaccinations are more widely distributed — particularly as more contagious virus variants spread. On Tuesday, the state DHS reported a seven-day average of 604 new cases, continuing a downward trend over the past two weeks. The state also reported a seven-day average of eight COVID-19 deaths, pushing the full toll to 6,773.

WisContext offers this visualization:

Find a vaccine site near you

DHS has partnered with Vaccine Finder to help Wisconsinites find vaccinations. Vaccinations are generally by appointment only and it may take time to schedule appointments with providers due to limited supplies of vaccines.

Resilient Wisconsin

People helping others and showing resilience during this time of anxiety. Send suggestions by tagging us on social media — @wisconsinwatch — or emailing us: tips@wisconsinwatch.org.

Skylight turns children’s words into songs about year of COVID-19 pandemic and other upheavals — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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