MILWAUKEE— As Wisconsin's COVID-19 case curve continues to climb statewide this week after dropping off significantly over the past few months, and as the vaccination rate statewide has now slowed to a crawl, frontline healthcare workers say they're frustrated.

"I think there's somewhat of a sense of feeling a bit defeated," Dr. Ann Sheehy with UW Health told Spectrum News 1 on Wednesday. "We understand that not everybody in the community saw what we saw so we understand the urgency might not be as significant, but for us, we don't have any political agenda... We just want [Wisconsinites] to get through this and survive."

Since July 5 when Wisconsin was averaging 60 new cases of COVID-19 a day, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the state's 7-day average has now climbed to 139 cases a day as of July 14.

"The vast majority of patients that are hospitalized in the United States [with COVID-19], about 98%, have not been vaccinated," Dr. Sheehy added. "When we see these people in the hospital, it's heartbreaking to us as healthcare providers because we know those hospitalizations can be prevented."

You can watch the entire interview with Dr. Sheehy above.