Soon, people living and working in Wisconsin will have the opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at the University of Wisconsin Superior’s Wessman Arena.

"It's a great space. There is lots of parking. There's easy access to get into the building and there's plenty of room to keep people separated,” Kathy Ronchi, Douglas County Public Health Officer said.

According to Ronchi, the site aims to open in mid-April. It will follow state guidelines to vaccinate populations based on their eligibility, but hopes to welcome the general public in time.

"We are moving through the 1B categories and by April, it will definitely be moving more towards those general public populations,” Ronchi said.

Hours of operation for the site are still being determined, however, Ronchi said they hope to be open later and possibly on Saturday’s. Ronchi is also unsure what vaccine will be distributed, but hopes it will the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

“My preference would be the one dose vaccine, so people don't have to coordinate coming back to get a second one,” Ronchi said.

According to Ronchi, the site will be run by a team from a company called AMI, who will provide staff and materials. This team will be shared with Barron County and will travel back and forth to administer the vaccine.

"We don't have it figured out yet if they will be in Douglas County two days a week, or a week at a time, but we will be sharing the resources with Barron County,” Ronchi said.

To further extend their efforts across the state, Ronchi said AMI will provide mobile vaccine teams as well.

"These mobile teams will be able to go into Bayfield County, Ashland County or even down into the Southern part of our county,” Ronchi said.

As far as signing up to receive the vaccine at Wessman Arena, Ronchi said that soon, health officials will launch a website for people to enter their personal information, like their age and whether they have any underlying health conditions. From there, people will be placed on a waiting list and contacted based on the order of their eligibility.

Once the link for that website is made public, we will provide it for viewers.

To see the original report and read related stories, follow this link to the WDIO-TV website.  https://www.wdio.com/superior-wisconsin-news/new-covid-19-vaccine-clinic-coming-to-wessman-arena/603...