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Maryland Delegate Ariana Kelly Shares a Maryland/MoCo Vaccine Update

Maryland Delegate Ariana Kelly Shares a Maryland/MoCo Vaccine Update

 

State Delegate Ariana Kelley (District 16) shared an update on Maryland and Montgomery County vaccines via Twitter today:

 

“Maryland is getting almost 50,000 J&J vaccines. FQHCs each getting 100, MoCo Health Dept getting 1600, Hopkins 800, Medstar 1000, Holy Cross 500, Adventist 100.”

 

Mike Ricci, Governor Hogan’s communications director, added “And the health department will receive an additional supplemental allocation of Moderna, for a total of 6,400 for the week, which is a 42% increase.”

 

More updates are available in her recent e-mail, seen below:

 

“Dear Neighbor,

 

Maryland received 118,000 first doses of vaccine from the Federal Government this week, up from only 72,000 a month ago. We expect this allocation to increase even more after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine approval.

 

Twelve weeks into vaccinating Marylanders, we have vaccinated about 13% of our population statewide. In Montgomery County, we are now slightly above the statewide average at 13.1% vaccinated. Howard County (the richest county in the state, and the 4th richest county in the country) is at almost 16% and many rural counties are approaching 20%. However, Prince George’s is only at 7% and Charles County is at 9%. Baltimore City is also below the state average at 11%. These areas with the lowest vaccination rates are also the jurisdictions with the largest Black populations in the state.

 

For comparison purposes, the national average is 14% of the population vaccinated. So, we are still lagging almost all other states, ranked 48th in the nation. We are ahead of Mississippi, and Kansas, (and DC, which is not included in this ranking but is included in the New York Times ranking here.) We’re behind everyone else.

 

Please note, these rankings do change daily, but Maryland has never been above 44th.

 

As part of the critical conversation about addressing vaccine hesitancy in minority populations, it is important to note that many states with populations nearly as diverse as Maryland are well ahead of us in percentage vaccinated. On most lists, Maryland is the 7th most diverse state in the nation, behind Hawaii, California, DC, Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada. However, peer states like Georgia (8th most diverse and 32nd in percentage vaccinated) and Florida (9th most diverse and 23rd in percentage vaccinated) are doing a noticeably better job of vaccinating a higher percentage of their population quickly. What we don’t know yet is if these states are doing so by leaving their minority populations behind.

 

The truth is, even in Maryland we don’t yet have adequate data to determine how we are doing in vaccinating our minority populations as compared to the white community. I have been trying to get accurate data on vaccination rates by race and ethnicity. Unfortunately, the data available has a significant percentage of “unknown” race or ethnicity information available- up to 14% of vaccine recipients in Maryland don’t have this information being tracked. I’m working with the state to try to improve our data in the coming weeks so we can effectively track racial disparities and inequities in access, as well as identify areas where interest in immediate vaccination is noticeably lower. This information will allow us to better craft vaccination access efforts and better deploy outreach and education efforts.

 

The data that is available shows very alarming trends – including a significant and growing gap in the percentage of the population vaccinated for Asian American, Black, and Latino Marylanders, with the largest gap for Maryland’s Latino population, which is largely located in Montgomery and Prince George’s County.

 

Update on Vaccinating Those 75+

 

As I mentioned last week, Montgomery County will be sending everyone 75 and over an invitation for a vaccine appointment. This process began this week and will continue into next week. By Thursday, March 4th, everyone 75 and over should have received the opportunity to schedule a vaccine appointment at a Montgomery County clinic. These appointments will be scheduled for vaccine clinics taking place through March 15.

 

If you are 75 or over, have registered on the Montgomery County pre-registration list, and still have not received an invitation after Thursday, March 4th, please contact my office.

 

If you are homebound, the County is beginning to conduct home visits in partnership with local nonprofits. They are starting with 50 visits this week and will expand the program from there.

 

To participate in either of these programs, please make sure you are pre-registered on the County list HERE.

 

Between 65 and 74?

 

Montgomery County clinics should begin sending invitations to this group after they have completed inviting the 75+ group (so, hopefully, middle of next week). Please remember, if you’re not in a priority zip code, you are unlikely to be in the first batch of invitations. However, an invitation will come before the County moves on to the next phase.

 

Many MoCo residents in this age group have had tremendous success getting appointments at the state mass vaccination clinics at Six Flags or M&T Bank Stadium. 25% of the people being vaccinated at these sites are from Montgomery County. Of course, this is only an option for people with reliable transportation and time off of work.

 

Pharmacies and hospitals are also vaccinating this age group. You can find the information for all of these sites HERE.

 

Sign up here to receive e-mail updates from Delegate Kelly.”

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