MADISON — The Wisconsin Department of Health Services recently opened provider enrollment for the Wisconsin COVID-19 Vaccine program. Vaccine providers are encouraged to enroll in the program if they plan to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to patients once it becomes available in Wisconsin. For more details and to access the enrollment portal, providers should visit the Wisconsin COVID-19 Vaccine Program webpage.

“We are urging providers that plan on providing COVID-19 vaccines to enroll in the program as early as possible,” said DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk. “The earlier we start enrolling vaccinators, the more prepared we will be when a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine becomes available.”

Vaccinators will be able to use the COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Enrollment tool for registration, verification, training, and preparation for a COVID-19 vaccination. Additionally, enrolled providers will receive vaccine doses at no-cost. Enrollment in the program is open to entities including: pharmacies; long term care facilities and assisted living facilities; health care systems; local and tribal health departments and mass vaccination sites.

“We want all Wisconsinites to have access to a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them,” said Immunization Program Manager Dr. Stephanie Schauer. “This enrollment tool will help us partner with organizations, integrate vaccinations into our statewide COVID-19 response, and ensure that once a vaccine is approved, we can efficiently distribute it across the state.”

A COVID-19 vaccine is not yet available, as no vaccine has gone through the same trials that all vaccines and pharmaceuticals go through prior to being available to the public. Multiple candidate COVID-19 vaccines, however, are currently in trial phases II or III at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For more information about which products are in trial, please visit The New York Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker.

Once approved, vaccines will be distributed in phases, with critical populations receiving the first supply.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Division of Public Health’s Office of Preparedness and Emergency Health Care has been working with the Immunization Section of the Bureau of Communicable Diseases to create a Wisconsin-specific vaccine plan. In Oct., DHS submitted a COVID-19 vaccination plan to the CDC. 

DHS will continue coordinated efforts with local and federal partners as well as local and tribal health departments and health care partners to ensure that every person that needs a vaccine will have the opportunity to get one.