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The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

Frederica Freyberg:

Vaccination numbers shot up this week as a new FEMA-supported mass vaccination clinic opened in Dane County. The center is capable of delivering shots to 1400 people per day. Another community center will open in Douglas County next week. This as a race between vaccinations and new emergent cases of coronavirus variants take shape and as the politics of the pandemic heat up at the State Capitol over control of federal relief dollars. I’m Frederica Freyberg. Tonight on “Here & Now,” up-to-the-minute details on vaccination efforts. Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake is here. Aggressive new research at UW on how to detect and fight the new coronavirus variants. A state Supreme Court ruling places monthly emergency food assistance dollars in jeopardy. And Wisconsin’s newly-elected State School Superintendent Jill Underly is here. It’s “Here & Now” for April 9.

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Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Julie Willems Van Dijk:

The worst thing in the world we can do right now is say, “No mandate, no mask,” because we are, as has been said here, seeing spread of variants and we need to use the mechanisms we have in place to prevent spread.

Frederica Freyberg:

The real world implications of rising COVID cases and no more state mask mandate. While Wisconsin remains a leader in the number of vaccines in arms, there’s a worrying trend by way of an uptick in COVID cases and news that the more infectious U.K. variant is likely to be the dominant strain in Wisconsin within the next two weeks. This means the race to vaccinate to beat the variants is urgently underway. In a moment we will hear about cutting-edge work being done on the variants at UW-Madison, but first, we get an update from the Secretary-designee of the State Department of Health Services Karen Timberlake. Thanks so much for being here.

Karen Timberlake:

You’re welcome. Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

There does appear to be new urgency from state public health officials, new cases have doubled in the last month and as mentioned the U.K. variant is chasing us down. How urgent would you describe the situation we’re in right now?

Karen Timberlake:

We are very concerned, both about the growth in positive cases. We had seen a nice decline in our positive cases for a number of weeks and as you point out, it’s now really rising quickly. In addition, the thing that’s important for people to know about these new variants is this is still COVID-19. It’s still this virus that we’re familiar with. The problem is, it’s a tricky virus and it’s continuing to mutate and become more contagious. So the reason we’re paying attention to these new variants is that they spread more quickly. So that is why it’s that much more important for people to keep wearing masks, keep staying physically distant, and keep your social circles small, and get vaccinated just as fast as you have an opportunity to do that.

Frederica Freyberg:

What is the situation in terms of numbers with the spread of these variants in Wisconsin?

Karen Timberlake:

So we are sequencing numbers of cases every week. We obviously can’t take a look at every single positive test that we get, but what we’re seeing is about half of the samples that we are testing are these new variants. So that’s what tells us the variants are spreading very widely and very quickly, but again, the most important thing for people to know is it’s still coronavirus. We still know masks work. We still know that it’s important to get tested when you have symptoms. And we know that the vaccine is the best way to beat those variants.

Frederica Freyberg:

So has it been the case here that the U.K. variant is taking hold in child care settings as we saw in Dane County and in youth sports activities?

Karen Timberlake:

It’s a little early to say that. We certainly are following those kinds of reports of outbreaks. And again, that’s also why it’s really important that people continue to get tested, so that we can start to better isolate and understand the spread of the variant. But I think really the key takeaway for people is that COVID continues to be everywhere in our state. It does continue to spread. And we have to keep up with our good, preventive measures.

Frederica Freyberg:

Describe for us if you would the latest vaccine availability and numbers of people vaccinated in Wisconsin.

Karen Timberlake:

This is really a good news story. Just since the middle of December, we have given more than 3.4 million doses of COVID vaccine across our state. So we’re now at a place where about 36% of everyone in the state of Wisconsin has had at least one dose of their COVID vaccine. About one in five people, a little better than one in five people, are fully vaccinated. 77% of our seniors have gotten at least one dose. More than 65% of our seniors are fully vaccinated. And we are continuing to open more availability to vaccines so this week we announced a partnership with our federal partners at Federal Emergency Management Association or FEMA, which will be adding some additional staff capacity here in Dane County. Around the state, we have community clinics in Rock County, in La Crosse, Eau Claire, Marathon. We’re opening up up north. So we’re really working hard in addition to hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, et cetera, to make vaccine very available for folks.

Frederica Freyberg:

So sounds like Wisconsin obviously has the infrastructure to get those, “shots in arms.” What about the supply coming in from the feds? Has that remained steady and increased?

Karen Timberlake:

Great question. So the answer is it has certainly increased in the last two months or so. When I started back at the department at the end of January, we were looking at 70,000 first doses a week. This week we’re up in the 180 to 220,000 first doses. The challenge we’re about to have, just so folks are aware, is we’ve been told all along that the supply of Johnson & Johnson was going to be a little bit variable. And we are going to see a decrease in Johnson & Johnson next week and perhaps the rest of April. But Pfizer and Moderna vaccine are staying consistent and so people need to be patient and persistent. So calling our toll-free number, checking out the vaccine finder resources on our website, those are all good ways to find a vaccine.

Frederica Freyberg:

With less than a minute left, the CDC just ordered Wisconsin I understand more than $50 million to vax underserved populations. How will that money be deployed and when?

Karen Timberlake:

So what we’re working to make sure we can do is get resources out into communities all across the state to make sure that everyone who is eligible for a vaccine has the opportunity to get one. We’ll work in partnership with our local partners to make sure that we can lift up availability and make sure everyone is aware, both of the fact that they’re eligible to get a vaccine and where they can find those vaccine resources.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Great. Thank you very much, and thanks for your work.

Karen Timberlake:

Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin met with a UW-Madison research team this week. Scientists at the Aids Vaccine Research Laboratory. The team led by Dr. Tom Friedrich, is working to identify and counterattack the rise of new coronavirus variants. Since March of 2020, the Friedrich Lab has identified or sequenced more than 6,000 viruses from Dane and Milwaukee Counties. We speak now to a primary member of the research team, Lab Scientist Katarina Braun. Thanks so much for being here.

Katarina Braun:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

Why is it important to sequence the COVID viruses?

Katarina Braun:

Yeah, so what we’re doing when we’re sequencing is sort of breaking that virus apart and taking a look at the genetic fingerprint inside the virus. And by doing that we can sort of identify slight genetic variations that differ from one virus that’s infecting me versus another virus that’s infecting you. It’s important so we can track the virus as it moves through space and time, which allows us to target public health guidance. But it’s also important to identify those particular variants which you’ve seen in the news recently, the variants of concern.

Frederica Freyberg:

Yeah, so when did you start seeing those? If you’ve been sequencing since March of last year, when did you start seeing the variants pop up?

Katarina Braun:

Sure. So it’s a little bit of a tough question to answer, because the virus itself, every virus that we sequence is slightly — is a variance of the last version that we sequenced. So there’s quite a few genetic variations that we notice. So we’ve been noticing them over the past year. The ones that are of particular interest and that we just started seeing pop up in Wisconsin over the past few months are the ones that are — confer increased transmissibility. So make the virus a little bit easier to spread and in some cases may make the vaccine a little bit less effective.

Frederica Freyberg:

So in terms of what you’ve found circulating in Wisconsin, what are the variants of concern that you found and are you able to pinpoint, you know, clusters of them in parts of the state?

Katarina Braun:

Sure. So we’re working really closely with public health in the state of Wisconsin to identify in particular travel-associated cases, into the state that may be associated with these variants of concern. So using that approach, we have been able to identify a few sort of outbreaks associated with travel. But the variant that seems to be popping up most common is the — called B117 and that’s the variant that was first identified in the United Kingdom this past fall. So that’s the one that’s still pretty rare in our state. But it’s definitely on the rise.

Frederica Freyberg:

So is it your expectation that the spread of this U.K. variant in particular will continue to increase here as is the concern of public health officials?

Katarina Braun:

That’s definitely the current concern. It’s still early. There’s only, you know, less than a few hundred cases in the state currently. But our surrounding states have seen a rise and we’re also seeing a rise. It’s also more transmissible. So it’s particularly good at spreading. So we do expect to see increasing number of cases of this particular variant.

Frederica Freyberg:

It also seems like kind of an obvious question but is this why we are now seeing an uptick in overall cases?

Katarina Braun:

It’s hard to say. Like I said, there are relatively few of these particular variants, the B117 in Wisconsin. It could be contributing. I also think public health data points towards people becoming a little bit more relaxed with their mask wearing, the weather is getting warmer and people are wanting to spend time together. And you know, all of those relaxations are allowing the virus to spread.

Frederica Freyberg:

I know that Michigan and Minnesota, for example, have large numbers of these variants. You know, there’s no way to put up a border fence at state lines, but what is the best way to suppress the spread of these variants in Wisconsin in your mind?

Katarina Braun:

Uh-huh. It’s a great question. And I think it’s the question that public health officials are currently tackling. One thing to do is to track and limit travel into and out of the state of Wisconsin. That’s increasingly hard as people want to travel. And the other thing is to just get people vaccinated as quickly as possible. We know the vaccine prevents — does a good job at protecting against this particular variant that’s on the rise in Wisconsin. So as quickly as we can get people vaccinated is definitely one of the primary measures we can do to reduce the spread.

Frederica Freyberg:

Knowing what you know about the spread and the infectiousness of some of these variants, would we or should we, in your mind, revert to safety practices like mandates if a surge kind of takes hold again?

Katarina Braun:

Yeah. I think it’s a hard question. I think that would be in the public’s best interest in terms of protecting the most number of people. In terms of public support, I don’t know if that would be there. I know that scientists and public health officials and physicians all know that the best way to protect our entire community is to get everyone, including people who are disproportionately sort of limited in terms of their access to the vaccine, to get everyone vaccinated as quickly as possible and also not just in Wisconsin, but as you mentioned, the virus doesn’t care about state or geographic borders. So getting people vaccinated across the United States and across the world is really important here.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. We really appreciate your work. Katarina Braun, thank you so much.

Last week the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Governor Tony Evers acted outside of the law when he extended existing public health emergency orders passed the 60-day limit. As a consequence, the state could end up losing $69 million in monthly federal food assistance because the funds are contingent on states having a public health emergency declaration due to the pandemic. Marisa Wojcik spoke with Matt King of Milwaukee-based Hunger Task Force to learn how many people would be affected and what state officials can do to ensure the food assistance is not lost.

Matt King:

We’ve seen a huge increase in need for food assistance. So in a typical month, we would serve 50,000 people through our charitable network. Half of those being kids. 10,000 low-income seniors, and so it need across the state, has mirrored that at a really high level.

Marisa Wojcik:

And are these very low-income folks, are these people who are just hitting hard times because of the pandemic? What — what does this demographic look like?

Matt King:

It’s across the board. But it’s people who have lost jobs as a result of the pandemic. People who have not had to seek assistance before. And so it’s been — it’s been really tough for a lot of people to be able to go out and ask for help for the first time.

Marisa Wojcik:

And so if this $69 million per month, is no longer available to the state, how many households and how many people across Wisconsin would be impacted?

Matt King:

Right. So one of the most effective tools that we have in fighting hunger is the Supplemental Nutritious Assistance Program or SNAP, which in Wisconsin is known as FoodShare. Over 407,000 households are currently enrolled in the program in the state of Wisconsin. And that equates to over 770,000 individuals. So there’s 407,000 households that are currently enrolled in the program who have been able to have an increase as a result of the public health emergency, have been able to receive an increase in the amount of SNAP that they’re receiving.

Marisa Wojcik:

And as you said, because of the public health emergency, so to be clear — clear, this isn’t normal FoodShare. This is specifically because of the pandemic, right?

Matt King:

That’s right. So in the month of March, because of the pandemic, this emergency food share was $55.6 million coming into Wisconsin. On April 1st, the USDA approved an additional benefit, and so that is an additional $13.4 million. So $69 million a month in emergency food share is now at stake. And without a public health emergency declaration in Wisconsin, we are not able to access those funds and we’ll mission out on that $69 million a month in additional funds to help poor folks in Wisconsin.

Marisa Wojcik:

If we were to break this down a little bit, what does that look like for an individual person?

Matt King:

As an example, a senior who is living in subsidized housing, so poor seniors in our community, pre-pandemic, they would have received $16 a month in food share. Now as a result of emergency food share and this additional allotment and increase, they’re receiving $234 a month. So going from $16 a month in assistance to $234 a month in assistance as an example. So that’s an increase in funding that makes it possible for that senior to not have to visit a food pantry but rather to go to the store and buy the groceries and the point being that these are 100% federal benefits that aid our food economy. So these are funds that are helping growers, farmers, food producers, grocers, truckers. So this is money that’s coming into our state economy during this difficult time, creating and sustaining jobs.

Marisa Wojcik:

And so what are Wisconsin’s options to reinstate this funding if this emergency order that originally came from the governor is no longer a possibility.

Matt King:

This is not an issue that Wisconsin is alone in. As emergency declarations expire, there’s going to be additional states that are encountering this issue. So we are looking currently at Michigan, where the Department of Health Services in the state of Michigan made a declaration of the emergency that allowed them to continue to access those resources. It does not take the governor or the Legislature to create a state of emergency or a public health emergency to be eligible for the federal aid. If we had a declaration of the public health emergency issued by the Wisconsin Department of Health, then we would be able to continue to access these resources and help people in need.

Frederica Freyberg:

You can see the complete interview with Matt King of the Hunger Task Force by going to PBSwisconsin.org and clicking on the news tab.

In election news, the Wisconsin Supreme Court today ruled 5-to-2 that the state need not remove or purge some 70,000 people from voter rolls who are identified as having changed address. The ruling found state law gives local officials authority to purge voter rolls, not the Elections Commission. The high court also ruled the lower court’s contempt order against the commission must be reversed. The commission says none of the 70,000 names still on the list voted in the November election.

Following Tuesday’s election, Wisconsin has a new incoming superintendent of public instruction. Jill Underly won the election over Deb Kerr by a margin of 57% to 42% of the vote and will take office in July. Tonight we’re joined by Jill Underly to talk about her mission going forward and she joins us from Hollandale. Thanks very much for being here.

Jill Underly:

Thank you so much.

Frederica Freyberg:

First, congratulations.

Jill Underly:

Thank you. Thank you very much. I’m really excited to get to work and get started.

Frederica Freyberg:

I don’t have to tell you that this election was contentious. And right out of the chutes, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos tweeted this. “Correctly stated,” he said, “that the teachers union owns the DPI, not the parents or the students or the taxpayers.” He says, “Count me as someone who isn’t going to support putting another nickel into this unaccountable state bureaucracy.” What’s your response to that message from Speaker Vos, particularly that part about the teachers union owning the DPI?

Jill Underly:

Yeah. My initial reaction was that was really sad. Honestly, my sadness. I think it’s clear from Tuesday’s result that supporting our local schools and our children isn’t a partisan issue. I have no interest in being partisan about public schools or about our kids. And our kids and our school staff, they deserve — you know, they need help, I should say, recovering from the pandemic and getting back on track. And I look forward to working with the Legislature and the governor to help all kids no matter how their parents voted.

Frederica Freyberg:

As to supporting putting money into the DPI and as the budget process gets underway here, what concerns do you have that the Legislature will or won’t open the purse strings to fund priorities that you have?

Jill Underly:

Well, I think initially, there’s a lot of common ground, right? We’ve got — we’ve got some sources and certainly we need to put those resources into the schools and flow that money through our schools to help with mental health, credit recovery staffing, and more. You know, the state Legislature needs to fund our public schools. I mean, that’s truly really the basis of our funding, is the equalization aid. And then the additional money, you know, from the federal money, for example, that should be helping us come out of this pandemic piece. But we still need to operate. So I guess my hope is that we can work together, you know, because at the end of the day, it’s not about Robin Vos and it’s not about me. It’s about funding our schools and certainly it’s about the kids and the future of the state. So my desire is to work together and commit to recovering from the pandemic to set up all our kids for success.

Frederica Freyberg:

What are your priorities starting day one?

Jill Underly:

Well, I mean, opening and making sure our schools are open. That’s number one priority. Right? But you know, assuming that we get through that, getting our kids caught up is certainly the other piece of that. High-quality early childhood education, adequate and fair funding for all of our schools. Mental health and emotional wellness support. Teacher recruitment and retention. And disrupting those systems of inequity that I’ve been talking about the entire campaign that certainly plaguing our public school systems.

Frederica Freyberg:

As to the more than $2 billion in federal COVID relief funding that you spoke of for schools that came into Wisconsin, can or should that be used to replace state funding in the budget?

Jill Underly:

It should not be used to replace state funding in the budget. The reason for that funding, it’s — federal funding is a one-time thing. And the intention is to help with infrastructure and to help getting our schools open and staying open, as well as providing the resources that our kids need to recover from the pandemic, such as mental health support, for example. The Legislature and the state of Wisconsin still need to make good on its promise of funding our public schools federal money aside.

Frederica Freyberg:

So have you been working with or talking with Governor Evers around these issues?

Jill Underly:

I have not spoken recently about the budget, for example. But he knows and I — we’ve talked about the fact that I’m very supportive of what he’s recommending in his budget, such as higher reimbursement for special education, poverty aid for example, as well as the broadband and the technology wireless access and affordability, too. So we’re on the same page.

Frederica Freyberg:

I know you said you want to work with the Republican Legislature around these issues but what is your message to them, the Republican budget writers in particular, as they consider the school funding package?

Jill Underly:

Yeah. You know, I think at the end of the day, it’s just about our kids. Honestly. And it’s about the future of our state here this Wisconsin. And we need to make sure that we’re funding our public schools adequately so that we can no longer have these inequities. You know, there’s a lot of gaps. We talk about opportunities. We talk about achievement. But really, in order to get through all that, we certainly need to make sure that we’re funding our public schools. And right now as we’re coming out of a pandemic and out of the hardest year of our lives, we have to think about the kids and the situation, too. And the kids deserve adequately-funded schools.

Frederica Freyberg:

Jill Underly, thanks very much.

Jill Underly:

You bet. Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

That is our program for tonight. For continued coverage on the topics we’ve presented tonight, go to PBSwisconsin.org and then click on the news page. I’m Frederica Freyberg. Have a good weekend.

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Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.