Vast majority of victims were elderly

By RICHARD MOORE | April 2021

When it comes to the risk of dying from COVID-19, two words tell the story: old age. Wisconsinites 80 years and older with the virus are 5,354 times more likely to die than teens who are infected, according to state and federal statistics. This reality has rarely been emphasized in media coverage of the pandemic over the past year.

There is still much to learn about the role of many other factors — underlying health conditions, disabilities, institutional settings, racial and socioeconomic situations — but they are all dwarfed by the age of the victims.

As of March 20, there were 6,576 deaths from COVID-19 in Wisconsin, according to data from the state Department of Health Services (DHS). Nearly eight in 10 were people 70 and older. More than half were at least 80, and more than a fifth were 90 and older.

To read more of this article, click here. Permission to reprint is granted as long as the author and Badger Institute are properly cited.
 

Operation Vaccination

By KEN WYSOCKY | April 2021

Back in early January, Marty Garofalo was a man on a mission: Get a COVID-19 vaccination for his wife. STAT.

“I wasn’t as concerned for myself as I was for Terry Lee, who has a compromised immune system and asthma,” says the 66-year-old Menasha resident, a retired clinical researcher for a papermaking company.

But like so many Wisconsinites during the early stages of the vaccine rollout, Garofalo faced a bewildering maze of dead ends as his hunt progressed. 

“It was frustrating because no matter where I went or who I tried to contact, no one had an answer,” he says. “The default comment always was, ‘When it’s ready, we’ll contact you.’ ”

To read more of this article, click here. Permission to reprint is granted as long as the author and Badger Institute are properly cited.