When President Biden announced in January that he would appoint Wisconsin’s top health officials to the second place in the Department of Health and Human Services, the state seemed to be the most important public health priority for the state: fighting the pandemic. Bad role model.
Wisconsin has just experienced a sharper surge than New York City, and it ranks low among the states when it comes to providing residents with the first dose of vaccine. Only about one-third of the dose sent to the state. The grim numbers provoked Wisconsin Republicans to aim at a familiar target. Andrea Palm, appointed by the state health secretary, has refused to confirm since 2019, even when the state was infected by the coronavirus. Denied her symbolic authority.