• Anesthesia related team members
• Behavior health providers, including psychologists, therapists, counselors
• Certified nursing assistant, nursing assistant, nurse aide, medical assistant
• Chiropractors
• Clinical ethicist
• Dental services, including dentist, dental hygienist, dental assistants
• Direct care personnel, for example, people who provide direct care to patients, including in their homes (for example, personal care assistant; home health worker; adult day service providers; paid and unpaid caregivers in Family Care, Family Care Partnership, and IRIS; paid and unpaid caregivers of children in special needs programs, including Children’s Waivers, CCOP, B3, Children with Medical Complexity, CCF WAM and Katie Beckett Medicaid)
• Emergency medical responders (EMR), including emergency medical technician/paramedic including all levels of EMRs
• Environmental services, food & nutrition, buildings & grounds in patient care setting
• Funeral home worker, coroners, and medical examiners
• Health care trainees
• Hospice workers
• Massage therapists
• Nurse, including community settings
• Long-term care facility inspectors and oversight staff
• Long-term care facility personnel (including those that work in 1-2 bed adult family homes and as supported living providers)
• Pharmacist/pharmacist assistant
• Phlebotomist and laboratory personnel
• Physician assistant/nurse practitioners
• Physicians (MD/DO – all settings)
• Public health workers providing vaccines and testing for COVID-19
• Radiation therapy technologists (RTTs)/radiologic technologists (RTs)
• Respiratory therapists
• Security personnel
• Spiritual care provider
• Social work, case management, Child Life staff (only those providing in-person support, including child welfare workers and adult protective services)
• Therapy services, for example, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy
• Transportation services to and from health care settings, for example, testing sites, dialysis centers, ambulatory care
• Other professionals and lay people who provide services as defined in “Vaccine Distribution Subcommittee: Phase 1A Guidance for Vaccinating Entities to Prioritize COVID-19 Vaccine in Priority Population”
• Transportation services to and from health care settings, for example, testing sites, dialysis centers, ambulatory care

• Correctional staff
• Emergency medical responders (EMR), including emergency medical technician/paramedic including all levels of EMRs
• Firefighters
• Police

• This includes individuals who live and work in nursing homes, independent living communities, residential care homes and other types of long-term care facilities.

• All individuals who are 65 years of age or older qualify for the COVID-19 vaccine. Due to supply of the COVID-19 vaccine, it may take months to vaccinate this large group.

• People who have received a letter from the State of Wisconsin confirming eligibility.

• All staff in regulated child care, public and private K-12 school programs, out-of-school time programs, virtual learning support, and community learning center programs
• All staff in Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCAs
• All staff in preschool and Head Start through K-12 education settings
• Faculty and staff in higher education settings who have direct student contact

• Members of Family Care and Family Care Partnership
• Participants in IRIS (Include, Respect, I Self-Direct)
• Children’s Long-Term Support Waiver Program, 16 years and older
• Katie Beckett Program, 16 years and older
• Children’s Community Options Program (CCOP), 16 years and older
• Children Come First, 16 years and older
• Wrap Around Milwaukee, 16 years and older
• Children with Medical Complexity Program, 16 years and older

• 911 operators
• Utility and communications infrastructure. Workers who cannot socially distance and are responsible for the fundamental processes and facilities that ensure electric, natural gas, steam, water, wastewater, internet, and telecommunications services are built, maintained, generated, distributed, and delivered to customers
• Public and commercial intercity bus transportation services
• Municipal public transit services
• Specialized transit services for seniors, disabled persons, and low-income persons
• Food supply chain
• Agriculture production workers, such as farm owners and other farm employees
• Critical workers who provide on-site support to multiple agricultural operations, such as livestock breeding and insemination providers, farm labor contractors, crop support providers, and livestock veterinarians
• Food production workers, such as dairy plant employees, fruit and vegetable processing plant employees, and animal slaughtering and processing employees
• Retail food workers, such as employees at grocery stores, convenience stores, and gas stations that also sell groceries
• Hunger relief personnel, including people involved in charitable food distribution, community food and housing providers, social services employees whare involved in food distribution and emergency relief workers

• Public health workers
• Emergency management workers
• Cyber-security providers
• Health care critical supply chain functions, including the production, manufacturing, and distribution of vaccine
• Support roles, such as cleaning, HVAC, and refrigeration, critical to health system function

• Those who live in employer-based housing. Housing provided by an employer for three or more unrelated individuals who share bedrooms
• Housing serving the elderly or people with disabilities such as an adult family home, independent living apartment, community-based residential facility, residential care complex, state center for the disabled, mental health institute, and county-based center for the disabled
• Shelters provided to those who are homeless and/or in need of protection (for example, domestic violence shelters)
• Transitional housing: A project that is designed to provide housing and appropriate supportive services to homeless persons to facilitate movement to independent living when such facilities include shared bedroomse
• Incarcerated individuals: Individuals in jails, prisons, and mental health institutions

• There are no reported serious safety concerns from either vaccine. All approved vaccines have gone through extensive clinical trials. The vaccine’s safety and efficacy have also been reviewed by two panels of independent experts at the FDA. While the vaccine did go through the clinical trial process quickly, it was tested on thousands of people just like every other vaccine or treatment that needs to be approved by the FDA. The shorter timeframe for vaccine development was achieved by reducing the time between each phase of the clinical trials.

• The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is 95% effective against symptomatic COVID-19. Protection is high even in older adults and people with chronic diseases. There is some evidence the vaccine also protects against severe COVID-19. Protection continues at a high level for at least 3-4 months. We do not yet know if protection will decline over time or if a booster dose will be needed.
• The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is 94% effective against symptomatic COVID-19. Protection is high even in older adults and people with chronic diseases. There is some evidence the vaccine also protects against severe COVID-19. Protection continues at a high level for at least 3-4 months. We do not yet know if protection will decline over time or if a booster dose will be needed.

• The vaccine has been tested on tens of thousands of people in initial clinical trials. No serious safety concerns were reported in these trials. However, more monitoring is needed to better understand if there are any long term side effects beyond the timeframe of the clinical trials. Ongoing safety monitoring through existing programs will continue to address safety concerns with the vaccine in real-time. The programs include the Vaccine Safety Datalink, Clinical Safety Assessment project, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting Systems and new monitoring systems such as the V-SAFE program and the National Healthcare Safety Network.

• Pain at the injection site is common and many people develop symptoms such as fatigue, headache, chills and muscle aches. These are mild to moderate in most people and typically resolve after 1-2 days. Lymph nodes may also become swollen and tender on the same side as the injection. These side effects occur because the immune system is responding normally to the vaccine. In general, these side effects are more severe after the second dose, and they may be less severe in older adults.

• While the vaccine was developed quickly, no corners were cut for the development of the vaccine. Fortunately, previous clinical research for SARS and MERS was able to be used as the vaccine was being developed to shorten the timeline. Clinical trials were also overlapped and the production of the vaccine happened prior to the completion of the vaccine. A pharmaceutical company would have never taken a risk like this had the federal government not provided incentives to do so. Finally, the FDA was able to give the vaccines emergency use authorization based on the importance of the vaccine before it is officially approved.

• All available vaccines currently provide a similar level of protection and safety. They also function in a similar way using mRNA. We feel there is not a better vaccine for patients.