Hogan Shifts Vaccine Plan, Hopes To Overcome Slow Distribution

ANNAPOLIS, MD — The coronavirus vaccines are here, but Gov. Larry Hogan is frustrated with the slow rate of distribution. He announced several measures Tuesday evening to overcome the lagging rollout. The efforts include a series of orders and National Guard projects to speed up the process.

"None of us are thrilled with the pace of this rollout over the first couple of weeks," Hogan said, mentioning that Maryland is behind roughly 22 states in its rate of immunization. "I can assure you it is improving every day."

Hogan's Orders

Hogan's administration handed down two orders Tuesday. The first directive imposes stricter shot allocations. Now, hospitals that use less than 75 percent of their inoculation shipments may have their future allotments slashed.

"Our message to those who are responsible for doing the vaccinations is clear," Hogan said. "Either use the doses that you have been allocated or they will be redirected to another facility or provider where they will be used immediately."

The second order requires providers to report their vaccine totals quicker. They now have 24 hours to enter the daily numbers. This shortens the previous 72-hour window mandated by the federal government.

National Guard

The Maryland National Guard will head into the field starting Wednesday to help speed up the process. About 200 civilian soldiers will administer shots and help with logistics.

The governor activated the guard last month, but this is its biggest task since then. The guard was also on-duty from March to July of 2020.

In that span, 1,500 soldiers distributed 59 million pieces of personal protective equipment, handed out more than one million meals and gave coronavirus tests to more than 22,000 people.

"We are honored to support the great state by serving on the frontlines of the communities where we reside and work," Adjutant General Timothy Gowen said. "Your Maryland National Guard is always there, always ready."

Hogan also indicated the state has recruited retired and volunteer medical workers who are qualified to distribute vaccines. About 700 residents have signed up for the initiative through the Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps.

"They are standing up the monumental vaccination effort across the state." Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health Dr. Jinlene Chan said. "It is all hands on deck."

Who Is Lagging

The federal government has sent about 274,000 shots to Maryland. The state has allocated 270,150 of them. That's 98.7 percent of Maryland's allotment. The remainder is set aside for emergency reserves.

The problem, however, is in the local distribution. The state's hospitals have ordered 163,225 doses, but they've used 34.3 percent of them.

The governor noted that the fastest hospital has used 67 percent of its allocation. The slowest, on the other hand, has offered up 16 percent.

"Some of our hospitals are doing extremely well," Hogan said at a press conference."Others are still just ramping up."

The governor also asked local health departments to pick up the pace. These agencies have administered 32.4 percent of their 35,200 shots.

Hogan applauded Calvert, Caroline, Howard, Montgomery and St. Mary's counties for being exemplar distributors. Their health departments have each made use of more than 80 percent of their disbursement.

"We are going to leverage every single resource at our disposal to get more shots into more arms as quickly as we possibly can," the governor said.

Private contractors, namely CVS and Walgreens, are lagging the most. These pharmacies report that they've given 13.8 percent of their 61,452 inoculations. Hogan recently spoke with the CEOs of both companies, who have the federal contract to vaccinate long-term care facilities.

The CVS leader said the company has given twice as many shots as the reporting system shows. CVS is working to fix the input error. Hogan suggested that Walgreens is still working to schedule vaccination clinics at every center.

"We’re going to continue to stay on top of this," the governor said. "Most of the states in America are having very similar issues with those contracts."

Vaccine Update

Vaccines are starting to roll in across Maryland, but the state is still in its early stages of mass-immunization.

So far, 76,916 Marylanders have gotten the vaccine since it became available in mid-December. That's 1.27 percent of the state's population.

On Monday alone, 11,317 residents got the shot. These statistics are updated daily on this website.

Maryland has five stages of vaccination: 1A, 1B, 1C, 2 and 3. The state is still in phase 1A, which prioritizes health care workers, first responders and those working or living in long-term care facilities.

After these Marylanders take the shot, high-risk individuals and teachers are next in line in stage 1B. Employees in critical industries, like infrastructure, are eligible in phase 1C.

More industries join the list in stage 2. The general public is up in the third and final period of immunization.

Tuesday saw the first five workers in the University of Maryland Medical System get their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. These employees had their first Pfizer shot on Dec. 14, 2020.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the inoculation three days prior. The FDA cleared Moderna's immunization on Dec. 18, 2020. Clinical trials suggest both vaccines are 94 to 95 percent effective at preventing severe cases of COVID-19.

Both shots require two doses. Pfizer's inoculations must be separated by three weeks. Moderna's need a four-week gap. The duo is not yet available for Americans younger than 16, as youth trials are still ongoing.

To catch up on Maryland's latest coronavirus trends, read Patch's most recent update.

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