MD Adds 6 Mass Vaccination Sites: Hogan

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Maryland will open six more mass vaccination sites in April, Gov. Larry Hogan announced at a Tuesday press conference. This will bring the state's total to 12 high-volume immunization sites.

The new facilities will open at:

• The Timonium Fairgrounds the week of April 5
• Montgomery College in Germantown the week of April 5
• An unnamed Anne Arundel County site the week of April 12
• An unnamed Frederick County site the week of April 12
• An unnamed Howard County site by the end of April
• An unnamed Harford County site by the end of April

Officials in Montgomery County, which is Maryland’s most populous jurisdiction, have pushed the state for weeks to open a mass vaccination site in the area. On March 16, they reported they secured one at Montgomery College. Hogan, however, said the announcement was premature.

Maryland's five other active mass vaccination clinics are 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

Another site will open Thursday in the former Wolf Furniture store in the Hagerstown Premium Outlets. Hogan will visit this location on its opening day.

Anybody eligible in phases 1, 2A or 2B of immunization can visit covidvax.maryland.gov or call 1-855-MD-GOVAX (1-855-634-6829) to preregister for an appointment at one of these locations. More than 150,000 Marylanders have used the website to sign up for a shot.

"Getting vaccinated is absolutely vital to stopping the spread of covid-19 and to returning to a normal life once again," Hogan said. "Each day truly is now bringing us one step closer to that light at the end of the tunnel."

The governor also added that Marylanders 16 and up with disabilities can now get the inoculation during stage 2B. They were originally scheduled to wait another few weeks.

This advancement will help protect people with disabilities from the group and caregiver settings that put them at an increased risk for catching coronavirus, Sec. Carol Beatty of the Maryland Department of Disabilities explained.

"You have continued your commitment to ensure that the most vulnerable Marylanders have access to vaccine," Beatty told Hogan. "Marylanders with disabilities, when it’s your turn, please go get the shot."

Hogan's briefing comes as Maryland's coronavirus cases are back on the rise. The state just contained its post-holiday infection surge. Cases plummeted until mid-March, but the numbers are now trending in the wrong direction.

The governor pointed to new strains of the coronavirus that are hitting Maryland. He noted that B-117 is one of his biggest concerns.

This highly-contagious strain causes severe nausea and diarrhea, clarified Dr. David Marcozzi, the COVID-19 Incident Commander for the University of Maryland Medical System. Marcozzi also mentioned that these symptoms have even troubled children and young adults.

"I would describe it as a race between the vaccines and the variants," Hogan said. "We have to get more people vaccinated before these variants take hold."

The state's vaccine rollout is progressing. Health officials expect this trend to improve even more in the coming weeks.

Vaccine Update

Marylanders 60 and older are now eligible for the coronavirus vaccine at clinics operated by state and private providers, Hogan announced Tuesday. Local health departments will soon decide if they will follow suit and open their sites to more residents.

With the expansion, the state is now in phase 2A of its immunization rollout. Locals age 16 and up with an underlying health condition or a disability can get the shot on March 30 as part of stage 2B. Essential workers and everybody 55 and older will be eligible on April 13 in phase 2C. Maryland will open the inoculation to all residents 16 and up on April 27 as part of stage 3.

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For Marylanders, here is the vaccine eligibility timeline for Phases 2 & 3: pic.twitter.com/7iVECF65iB
— Mike Ricci (@riccimike) March 18, 2021

These advancements are scheduled in anticipation of an influx in vaccine doses. The White House coronavirus task force told states to expect larger shipments starting the week of March 29, Hogan explained. The governor does not yet know the size of these larger batches, however.

Numbers Check-In

A total of 1,509,098 Marylanders have gotten at least one dose of the immunization. That's a quarter of the population.

The state also tracks how many people are fully vaccinated, meaning they have gotten the single shot of the Johnson & Johnson inoculation or both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna immunizations. About 13.3 percent of the state, or 801,385 residents, are fully vaccinated.

Despite the inoculation progress, infections are starting to roll in again. The case rate has jumped to 15.86 new infections per day per 100,000 residents over the past week. That's the highest clip since Valentine's Day.

The case rate is still down from its Jan. 12 high of 53.39. It's up, however, from its recent minimum of 12.33 on March 6, which was the lowest mark since Oct. 28, 2020.

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The positivity rate has also climbed to 4.45 percent. That's the highest since Feb. 14, but it's down from its recent peak of 9.47 percent set on Jan. 3. The percent positivity has climbed since March 3 when it hit a recent low of 3.26 percent, which was the best rate since Oct. 25, 2020.

Coronavirus hospitalizations have risen to 895, which is the most since March 2. That's still about half the state's Jan. 12 maximum of 1,952 hospitalizations. The hospitalization total has ascended from March 12's recent low of 765 patients, which were the fewest since Nov. 10, 2020.

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Altogether, 401, 427 Marylanders have been infected. The virus has killed 8,010 of those residents.

Coronavirus Vaccine Resources

Read Patch's explainer to learn when, how and where you can get an immunization. Head to our vaccine page to keep up with Maryland's latest vaccine news.

To see when you'll be eligible for the shot, head to this website or read Maryland's plan. Use the state's search engine to find the location and registration form for your closest inoculation clinics.

Check Maryland's vaccination progress on its numbers dashboard. Follow the state's infection trends on its data tracker. For more information about the coronavirus vaccine, click here.

Patch Field Editors Elizabeth Janney and Alessia Grunberger contributed reporting to this story.

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