Credit:  Elizabeth Janney, Patch Staff – Bel Air, MD Patch User Profile for Elizabeth Janney

MARYLAND — As the federal government works to ramp up production of the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Larry Hogan said the state is preparing before the supply arrives. Maryland is setting up sites for people to get the COVID-19 vaccine so the state will be ready when supply increases.

Maryland is taking measures “to push the federal government for more vaccines” and leveraging every resource “to get shots into arms as quickly as possible,” Hogan said, “and we will not rest until the vaccine is available to every Marylander who wants one.”

Over 100 providers are offering the vaccine in Maryland, including pharmacies, hospitals and health-care provider clinics, the governor said.

“This number is growing weekly and will continue to expand as the supply increases,” he said. “Appointments will fill up very quickly, and you should expect to be put on a waiting list.”

The state has partnered with private-sector pharmacies, including 22 Giant locations and three Martin’s stores, as well as 10 Walmart stores in Maryland, to provide the vaccine.

Hogan said the list of retailers offering COVID-19 vaccines in Maryland will expand to include more than a dozen Safeway and Rite Aid locations next week.

About 2 million people are now eligible to receive the vaccine in Maryland, and there is not enough of the vaccine for everyone.

“Given that supply remains very limited, and we are focused on equitable distribution, we are utilizing data and modeling to prioritize underserved areas” and those with the greatest need, he said. The state plans to partner with Rite Aid to stand up mobile clinics in some areas.

Eligibility Expanding For High-Risk Patients

Starting Monday, Feb. 1, the state will expand coronavirus vaccine eligibility for those who are severely immunocompromised, including those undergoing chemotherapy and with other medical conditions.

“The adjusted prioritization … allows for those at higher risk of death per the CDC guidelines to receive a vaccine earlier,” according to Dr. David Marcozzi, who is the COVID-19 incident commander for the University of Maryland Medical System. To date, he noted 6,788 Marylanders have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Those who will be eligible for the vaccine starting Feb. 1 include cancer patients currently in active treatment, end-stage renal disease patients requiring hemodialysis, those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, recipients of solid organ transplants, sickle-cell disease patients and diabetic patients, Marcozzi said. Hospital providers will administer the vaccine for these individuals.

“There is good news, as there are more COVID-19 vaccines getting closer to being authorized for use,” Marcozzi said. In a few weeks, he said, Johnson & Johnson’s efficacy data would be available, and its vaccine would be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for consideration for emergency authorization soon thereafter.

“The J&J vaccine is a single-dose shot,” Marcozzi said, with fewer temperature control requisites. “Authorization of this vaccine could be a game-changer.”

COVID-19 Infrastructure At Scale

Maryland is looking to scale up its infrastructure to administer the COVID-19 vaccine in the same way it ramped up coronavirus testing capacity. It will use a variety of models, according to Acting Health Secretary Dennis Schrader.

Health departments have been the backbone of the state’s vaccination program, Schrader said, while hospitals and large private practices joined early on and helped vaccinate vulnerable populations.

Retail pharmacies began vaccinating people in Maryland Monday, Jan. 25, he said.

“High-capacity community sites — mass vaccination sites — will take shape in the next week,” Schrader said at Tuesday’s news conference. “We are working with communities where we can serve large numbers of eligible individuals efficiently. The sites will be operated by clinical partners that do the actual vaccinating.”

He directed people to covidvax.maryland.gov to find a vaccination provider.

“We are now in phase 1C … including the most vulnerable Marylanders and all residents 65 and older,” Schrader said, referencing the state’s vaccination distribution plan.

A person’s eligibility does not expire as the state moves through phases and opens the vaccine to more populations.

“The expansion of eligibility helps to ensure that no vaccine goes to waste,” Schrader said.

Maryland had only seen vaccines go to waste in one case, and that was from a failed refrigerator, he said, noting vaccinators were being “very careful,” and the state had “not observed wastage.”

Public and private partnerships will be the key to the scalable infrastructure as more vaccines become available.

“As we receive more vaccines, we can scale up these operations to serve more and more Marylanders,” Schrader said.

“By establishing a robust infrastructure now while vaccine supply remains limited,” Schrader said, the state is ensuring that “when Maryland receives more vaccines, we will be ready to distribute them and a variety of providers will be prepared to administer them.”

6 Locations To Have Mass Vaccination Sites

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) granted Maryland $219 million in federal funding to assist with the state’s emergency vaccination programs, Hogan said Tuesday.

“With the anticipation that the federal government will be able to address these supply chain issues and that they will increase deliveries to the states, we have directed the Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland National Guard to work with county leaders, with hospitals and private partners to establish mass vaccination sites [in] at least six central locations statewide,” Hogan said.

Hundreds of Maryland National Guard members who had been stationed in Washington, D.C., will be reassigned to help set up mass vaccination COVID-19 sites in the next week, the governor said.

Six Flags America in Prince George’s County will serve as a mass vaccination site to open no later than Friday, Feb. 5, the governor said. It will operate as a drive-thru in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, his spokesman reported.

The Baltimore Convention Center will also begin offering vaccinations by next Friday, Feb. 5, in collaboration with the University of Maryland Medical System. Officials said the center will continue to run as a field hospital and infusion center for monoclonal antibody treatment.

The Baltimore City Health Department and University of Maryland Medical System will open a vaccination site at M&T Bank Stadium “as soon as we are able to secure a higher allotment of vaccines from the federal government,” Hogan said. That will likely be a drive-thru, according to his spokesman.

On the Eastern Shore, in western Maryland and in southern Maryland, the governor said the state was still in the process of securing regional mass vaccination sites.

Supply is extremely limited in Maryland and around the nation, the governor reported.

About 95 percent of the state’s vaccine allocation has already been “deployed, distributed and distributed to front-line vaccinators,” Hogan said. “There is not enough for everybody.”

In addition, the governor reported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now requiring Maryland to set aside nearly 20,000 of its weekly allocated doses for long-term care facilities, which leaves 50,000 doses weekly for the remaining providers in the state.

“This is not going to magically get better overnight,” Hogan said. “I ask all Marylanders … please be patient with the vaccination providers” who are doing the best with limited resources.

“People are really sick of this virus,” Hogan said. “We’re completely fed up and frustrated right now … No one is more frustrated than I am, and no one is more eager to get this pandemic behind us than I am.”

He encouraged everyone to get the vaccine, stating: “Getting vaccinated is the best way we can return to a sense of normalcy.”