County Expands Vaccine Eligibility, Expresses Frustration With MD

SILVER SPRING, MD — Montgomery County will align with Maryland's inoculation plan and expand vaccine eligibility to those 60 years of age and older starting Tuesday.

Dr. Travis Gayles, the county's top health official, announced the news during Tuesday's County Council meeting. He said the decision was made after the state ordered all jurisdictions to abide by its vaccine rollout schedule.

"Yesterday, the governor's office released a memo that has directed any person who is providing coronavirus vaccines to follow the state (vaccine rollout) schedule," Gayles said. "As you know, we've been a little off in terms of the groups we have prioritized."

Previously, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) gave all 24 jurisdictions discretion in deciding how and when to vaccinate their residents. Montgomery County has moved at a slower pace than other jurisdictions, saying it still needed to prioritize vulnerable populations and hadn't received enough doses to keep up with Maryland's timeline.

Up until Tuesday, Maryland was vaccinating people in Phases 1A, 1B, and 1C. Montgomery County was only vaccinating people in those first two phases.

Under the new state directive, issued Monday by acting health secretary Dennis Schrader, all jurisdictions must abandon their own vaccine rollout timeline and sync up with the state's schedule.

"All persons included in the Current Phase and all prior phases of the State Vaccine Prioritization Policy shall be eligible to receive COVID-19 Vaccines," the directive read. "Political subdivisions shall not make orders or rules to the contrary."

Violations carry a penalty of up to one year of imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $5,000.

Now that the county is in Phase 2A, residents between the ages of 60 and 64 can preregister for a vaccine appointment.

"Let's be clear, however, as we've said all along: just because someone is eligible does not mean you will get an appointment right away," Gayles said. "It just adds you to the queue."

Dr. Earl Stoddard, the county's head of emergency management, expressed frustration over the eligibility changes — saying the state did not provide an explanation for the order and ultimately left local officials in the dark.

"It looks like we're just pointing fingers at the state. But if we are not given an explanation for what the rationale for the changes are, it makes it hard for us to explain (the changes to residents) other than saying the state told us to do it, so we did it," he said.

"I hate to say it, but we've kind of gotten used to not getting information, which again, you should never get used to that kind of thing," Stoddard added. "It's now a surprise when we get any sort of information or intel as opposed to an expectation."