Hogan Adds Vaccine Outreach; MD Passes 4M Doses

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Maryland has administered more than 4 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine. The state passed this benchmark Wednesday morning, meaning about 55 percent of adults have gotten at least one dose of the immunization.

Later in the afternoon, Gov. Larry Hogan announced additional efforts to inoculate the remaining locals. He hopes to improve shot accessibility for older residents, college students and major employers. The governor calls this initiative "No Arm Left Behind."

"We truly are close to that light at the end of the tunnel," Hogan said at a press conference. "Those of you who have not yet been vaccinated, please go get a vaccine as quickly as you can. Do it for yourself, do it for your family, do it for your friends and do it so that all of us can put this global pandemic behind us."

Older Residents

Maryland's vaccination outreach team will contact more than 70,000 Medicaid recipients who have not gotten or scheduled their immunization. Workers will help these locals book appointments if they want the shot.

About 98 percent of the state's senior housing facilities have completed or scheduled their inoculations. Maryland is still chugging along on the final 2 percent.

Dozens of vaccination clinics are on the way. Lieutenant Gov. Boyd Rutherford visited one of these sites Tuesday morning at the Bowie Senior Center.

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College Students

College students are another high priority. The virus can spread quickly on campuses, given their dense populations and frequent travel.

Officials will work with the Maryland Higher Education Commission to promote the immunization at all 42 colleges in the state. This partnership will include social media and ad campaigns. Maryland will also reserve some appointments explicitly for college students at mass vaccination sites.

National Guard Brigadier General Janeen Birckhead announced that her Maryland Vaccine Equity Task Force will offer immunizations at two historically Black universities.

Birckhead's team will lead a clinic and a town hall at Bowie State University on April 26. The group will also run three weekly vaccination events at Morgan State University starting April 30.

Major Employers

Many of Maryland's largest employers require in-person work. Inoculations, therefore, are crucial for these infrastructure companies.

The state is mainly targeting these businesses:

• Southwest Airlines
• Exelon
• Comcast
• Amazon

Maryland will hold additional clinics for essential workers at manufacturers. The state will also reach out to agricultural employees.

Other Efforts

Maryland will continue its vaccine confidence campaign with a new public service announcement. The video will feature trusted physicians who say the immunization is safe.

Residents can book their shot by dialing 1-855-MD-GOVAX (1-855-634-6829). The call center is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Help is now available in more than 200 languages.

The state also added walk-up lines at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital and Greenbelt Metro Station mass vaccination sites. A limited number of Marylanders can stroll up to these facilities each day and get an inoculation without an appointment.

Hogan also expanded the existing walk-up lines at the M&T Bank Stadium, Western Maryland, and Eastern Shore clinics. Maryland will welcome more walk-up immunizations in the coming weeks.

Vaccine Milestones

The state has averaged 66,303 shots-per-day over the last week. Compared to Maryland's total population, that's the 12th best rate in the country.

About 82 percent of Maryland's seniors have gotten at least one injection. Nearly 1.7 million locals, or 28 percent of Marylanders, are fully vaccinated.

The Six Flags America clinic will soon hit 250,000 doses administered, and the Waldorf location on Wednesday passed 100,000 shots. Plus, the M&T Bank Stadium site inoculated a record 1,000 people in an hour on Tuesday.

Maryland has more than 3,000 places to get the immunization. That includes 509 pharmacies and 104 doctors’ offices.

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Mass Vaccination Sites

The state has 11 active mass vaccination sites located at:

• The Baltimore Convention Center
• Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium
• Upper Marlboro's Six Flags America
• Waldorf's Regency Furniture Stadium
• Salisbury's Wicomico Youth & Civic Center
• The former Wolf Furniture store in the Hagerstown Premium Outlets
• The Timonium Fairgrounds
• Germantown's campus of Montgomery College
• Greenbelt Station
• Frederick Community College
• Annapolis' Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium

Another high-volume facility opens Thursday at Aberdeen's Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium. A final clinic will open next week at The Mall in Columbia.

Marylanders can preregister for an appointment at any of these locations by visiting covidvax.maryland.gov or calling 1-855-MD-GOVAX (1-855-634-6829).

Residents in earlier stages of inoculation, like front-line workers and at-risk Marylanders, will still take precedence. That means locals may have to wait a bit for a timeslot.

Coronavirus Vaccine Resources

Anybody 16 or older can now get the immunization at providers across Maryland. Check out our how-to guide to learn how to sign up for the coronavirus vaccine.

Catch up on the infection and inoculation metrics by visiting the state's data dashboard. Head to Patch's immunization page to keep up with Maryland's latest vaccine news.

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RELATED:

• How To Get The Coronavirus Vaccine In Maryland
• COVID-19 Vaccine Open To Marylanders 16 And Up Starting April 6
• Feds Pause Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine In MD, Across US
• Hogan Visits Navy Stadium Mass Vaccination Site
• Hogan Hopes Greenbelt Mass Vaccination Site Bolsters Equity

Have a story idea? Please contact me at jacob.baumgart@patch.com with any pitches, tips or questions. Follow me on Twitter @JacobBaumgart and on Facebook @JacobBaumgartJournalist to stay up-to-date with the latest Anne Arundel County and Prince George's County news.