U.S.  Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Eric Hargan says vaccines will get to everyone that wants one, including rural areas like Door County. Hargan was in Sturgeon Bay on Friday touting President Donald Trump’s new Rural Action Plan, which addresses ways to improve healthcare in such settings. Within the last week, China, Russia, and the United States have announced they have vaccines developed that could be released in the coming months. The vaccines would likely go first to some of the most vulnerable populations including front-line workers. Hargan says they are ordering a vaccine for every American, but there will, as always, be challenges for rural hospitals.

Hargan is hopeful Americans will trust the vaccine once it is released for Americans, citing the exhaustive work the Food and Drug Administration has put into clinical trials. The team behind developing the vaccine initiative called Operation Warp Speed says high-risk populations might be able to get vaccinated by the end of 2020 with mass immunizations by the middle of 2021. Over the weekend, positive tests in Door and Kewaunee Counties went up to 147 and 207 respectively according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. More detailed numbers should be released by the individual counties later in the day.