Vaccine Sign-Up Frustrates Marylanders; Leaders Want Single Form

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Many Marylanders are frustrated with the preregistration process for the coronavirus vaccine. Every immunization provider has its own form to fill out, and residents are spending hours searching for open appointments across several websites.

Maryland's congressional Democrats called out this issue in a Feb. 3 letter to Gov. Larry Hogan. Led by District 4 Rep. Anthony Brown and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the lawmakers asked Hogan for a centralized sign-up portal. Maryland's only congressional Republican, District 1 Rep. Andy Harris, did not sign the statement.

"The lack of statewide coordination and communication in Maryland's vaccine program has yielded rampant confusion and a disjointed, inequitable roll out," the legislators wrote. "It is clear that the State is not meeting the needs of Marylanders, and we urge you to put forth a strategy and clear guidance that significantly improves Maryland's vaccination program."

Hogan dismissed the idea last Friday. He speculated that a streamlined website could not handle a state with so many providers and eager residents.

"What we don't want is to have one central site that 6 million people are crashing," the governor said. "That doesn’t work. Right now, it’s been dispersed."

Leaders suggested that Maryland's segmented registration has made the state one of the slowest vaccinators in the nation. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Maryland ranks 42nd in the proportion of residents who have gotten their first dose.

"It’s not a sustainable model to ask every Marylander to fill out multiple forms, on multiple websites with no assurance that they will actually secure an appointment," Brown added Thursday in a separate press release. "This is a recipe for failure and will ultimately hurt Marylanders most vulnerable to COVID-19."

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 vaccination clinics.

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

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