Hogan Gets Coronavirus Vaccine On Camera, Hopes To Show It's Safe

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Gov. Larry Hogan received the coronavirus vaccine Monday morning. He livestreamed his shot in an effort to show the immunization is safe and effective.

"We’re all looking forward to the day where we can take off and throw away our masks," Hogan said. "The only way that we’re going to return to a sense of normalcy is by these COVID-19 vaccines."

Who Is Eligible?

The state entered phase 1B of vaccination on Monday. That enables these Marylanders to get the inoculation:

• Anybody age 75 and older
• Residents of congregate living facilities
• School staff
• Those needed for continuity of government
• Child-care providers
• High-risk inmates

Maryland will begin stage 1C on Jan. 25. Residents age 65 to 74 will be eligible in that period, as will essential workers in lab services, agriculture, manufacturing and the postal service.

Hogan reminded Marylanders the state does not need to vaccinate everybody in each phase before moving onto the next. To see what group you fall into, check out the state's vaccination plan.

Why Is It Taking So Long?

As the list of eligible Maryland residents grows, Hogan asked everybody to stay patient. About 1.5 million residents are currently up for the shot, and the state will require 12 million doses for its population of 6 million.

"You’re seeing stories about how the vaccines are not being used fast enough," Hogan said. "I can assure you that is going to soon change. And you will see stories that we are running out of vaccines being provided to us in order to keep up with demand. And you will likely see people in long lines or on long wait lists all across the country. This will take time."

The federal government controls how many doses of vaccines the states get each week. So far, the feds have sent 551,700 shots to Maryland. That's enough to vaccinate 4.5 percent of the state.

Maryland collects about 10,000 doses-per-week. After a slow start, Hogan noted the state has since averaged 15,000 shots administered each week. That means Maryland will soon have to slow its vaccination program or the federal government and manufacturers will have to speed up their supply.

"I cannot emphasize strongly enough that there is still a very limited supply of vaccines available to us from the federal government," Hogan said, adding the state has given 233,309 first doses and 21,801 second doses. "This is going to take a long time. It’s going to take a great deal of patience, and it’s going to take a whole lot more vaccines."

How Safe Is It?

Some Marylanders are still skeptical about how quickly the vaccine was developed. Others are worried about the lies that they've heard through disinformation campaigns, the governor suggested.

Hogan plans to ease these concerns by hosting a series of public immunizations with key community figures. Maryland first lady Yumi Hogan, Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford and Deputy Health Secretary Dr. Jinlene Chan also got their shots during the live event. Click here to watch the video.

Their inoculations were made by Moderna, which was cleared for emergency use about a month ago. Research suggests that Moderna's vaccine is 94.1 percent effective at preventing severe illness caused by COVID-19. The shot requires two doses separated by four weeks. Moderna's safety review from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is posted at this link.

Pfizer-BioNTech was the first and only other manufacturer to get emergency authorization. The Pfizer immunization is about 95 percent effective. It also comes in two doses, but Pfizer's are separated by three weeks. Pfizer's FDA review is available here.

"Wow, I didn’t feel it," the governor said after a member of the Maryland National Guard gave his shot. "Nice work."

How Are The Cases?

After a post-holiday surge, new coronavirus infections have slowed over the last five days. A per-capita measurement called the case rate tracks these trends. It measures the average number of people infected per day per 100,000 residents over a rolling week.

Since peaking at a record-high 53.39 last Tuesday, the case rate has fallen to 46.72. That's still more than double the state's springtime high of 18.03.

How Is The Positivity Rate?

The positivity rate is also down slightly. This indicates the percentage of coronavirus tests that come back positive. It also suggests whether an area has enough testing to identify most of its cases. Health officials believe states should aim for positivity rates of 5 percent or less.

Maryland's positivity rate sits at 8.22 percent. That's down from its Jan. 3 high of 9.47 percent, and it's well below the state's March high of 26.88 percent.

That springtime number was inflated because the state had a limited supply of tests in the early days of the pandemic. Because there were so few tests, only the sickest Marylanders got swabbed.

Now that testing is more widespread, even asymptomatic residents get checked. It would take an even larger outbreak to reach that positivity rate again.

How Are The Hospitalizations?

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations have fallen by more than 100 in less than a week, but they are still on a net trend pointing upward. A record 1,952 Marylanders were in the hospital with the virus last Tuesday.

By Monday, 1,850 residents were hospitalized, which is up 27 from the day before. Hospitalizations reached 1,711 on April 30. They fell to 281 by Sept. 20. It's been a steady climb ever since.

Intensive Care Unit hospitalizations have followed a similar trend. They peaked at 611 in May, fell to 68 in September and have since shot back up.

ICU hospitalizations have hovered around 400 since the beginning of December. They hit a recent high of 456 last Tuesday, and they are now down to 421.

How Are The Deaths?

The Maryland Department of Health has reported an additional 29 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours. Daily deaths have fluctuated between 26 and 53 since late November.

The state's recent high of 53 deaths was reported on Dec. 18. That rivals Maryland's April 29 peak of 68 deaths. In comparison, Maryland averaged about 10 deaths-per-day over the summer.

Altogether, 328,214 residents have been infected with coronavirus. Another 6,423 have died.

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RELATED:

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• Hogan Activates National Guard To Distribute Coronavirus Vaccines
• First MD Coronavirus Vaccines Could Arrive Next Week: Officials
• Coronavirus Vaccine: How Will MD Distribute It? Hogan Shares Plan

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