Phase 2 Announced for Maryland: Notes From Governor Hogan’s 3/18 Press Conference
Notes are paraphrased
• It took 67 days to reach one million doses, but just 27 days to reach two million.
• Vaccination rate faster than 37 other states.
• Nearly 25% of all Marylanders have gotten a vaccine.
• Infrastructure in place to do 100,000 shots per day.
• In on-going discussions with other jurisdictions for mass-vax sites.
• Biggest challenge continues to be supply from Federal government, but there’s progress on that front.
• Per Joe Biden, every adult will be eligible for vaccine by May 1st.
• Significant increase in vaccine supply for all states by week of March 29th.
• State of Maryland enters Phase 2 beginning Tuesday, March 23rd. All Marylanders 60+ will be eligible for a vaccine.
• On Tuesday, March 30th Maryland will move to Phase 2B. Includes Marylanders 16+ with underlying medical conditions.
• Phase 2C will begin 4/13/21. All Marylanders 55+ and essential workers.
• Phase 3 will begin 4/27/21. It will include ALL Marylanders 16+
• All phase 2 eligible Marylanders will still be prioritized.
• This week MD is launching a pilot program to provide vaccines to primary care practices throughout Maryland in order to administer vaccines directly to vulnerable populations they serve.
• The program begins with 37 practices chosen based on their connection to largely African American and Hispanic communities and areas with less geographic access to vax sites.
• The MD Health Services Cost Review Commission has established a first-in-the-nation program to support hospital efforts to engage in community-based vaccination efforts.
• Program is made possible by the one-of-a-kind Maryland Model healthcare finance system which will provide $12 million for community-based vaccination initiatives led by hospitals.
• “Please get vaccinated when it is your turn.” -Gov. Hogan
Monday 2/8 Update: The Complete Guide for Attempting to Get a Vaccine (for MoCo Residents)
Today’s update (2/8) includes Kaiser Permanente as a current vaccine provider. This update also includes 4 additional retail pharmacies that plan to offer COVID vaccines in the future. Newest updates are listed at the bottom of this post.
__________________________________
Getting a vaccine is an extremely frustrating and confusing process at this moment. Some people who believed they had appointments have been turned away on site because they weren’t actually allowed to register yet. Others who sign up for notifications have missed out on getting an appointment because they checked their email too late. This guide is here to help!
*One very important item to note: The priority groups (1A, 1B, 1C, etc) for MoCo and the priority groups for the state of Maryland are not the same. One key difference is most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions are considered 1C in MoCo, but are considered priority group 2 in the state of Maryland. See MoCo’s priority groupings here: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/vaccine/#priority-groups
See the state of Maryland’s priority groupings here: https://covidlink.maryland.gov/content/vaccine/
All links and information below come directly from https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/vaccine . None of these links are private, all are publicly available.
It is highly recommended that if you pre-register or sign up for a notification from a specific provider that you add their email as a favorite contact, a VIP, or that you enable automatic forwarding so you get a text message (see instructions here)
Vaccine Provider: Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services
Who can sign up: MoCo Priority groups 1A-1C (includes under 65 w/pre-existing conditions) can preregister here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=-bEBbuWxc0Csl3eAaaCtZIX4xtdwGclLpDnoMzWyXUdURFA5Tkg5MzBLMkdTQlJPM1BYTlRDR0lEUS4u
Other Information: Currently 1A and people 75 and older in 1B are getting emails with private links to make appointments. The rest of 1B and all of 1C may preregister and are not receiving links to make appointments yet.
Link to main website :https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/vaccine/#priority-groups
How you will be notified: When it is your turn to make an appointment, you will get a private link from this email address: [email protected]
Sign up for updates via text and email: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/MDMONTGOMERY/signup/21366
Vaccine Provider: Adventist
Who can sign up: State of Maryland’s 1A-1C (does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions) — Anyone in these categories can make an appointment when they are available. No pre-registration is necessary.
Other Information: Adventist holds clinics on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Recently, they’ve been announcing appointment availability via email sent at 9pm once a week (changes depending on availability).
Main website: https://www.adventisthealthcare.com/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine/
How you will be notified: Anyone who signs up for an alert will get an email from [email protected] — emails are being sent to EVERYONE, getting an email does not necessarily mean you qualify for an appointment.
Sign up for updates via text and email: https://www.adventisthealthcare.com/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine/alerts/
Vaccine Provider: Holy Cross
Who can sign up: Anyone in the state of Maryland’s 1A and 1B groups can make an appointment when vaccines are available. Holy Cross is not accepting 1C yet.
Other Information: Appointment slots are released at 4 PM on specific weekdays. An announcement on the top of the main website is updated regularly to share when the next 4pm sign up will be. Spots go very fast. There are different links for each priority group.
Main Website: https://www.holycrosshealth.org/health-and-wellness/covid-19-vaccine/schedule-appointment
Link for 1A: https://www.holycrosshealth.org/health-and-wellness/covid-19-vaccine/vaccine-group-1a
Link for 1B: https://www.holycrosshealth.org/health-and-wellness/covid-19-vaccine/vaccine-group-1b (there are additional vaccine appointments reserved for the following groups: people 75 and over, people with intellectual disabilities, people with developmental disabilities. )
How you will be notified: There is not a way to sign up for updates. You have to keep checking the banner at the top of the website to see when the next appointments are available. https://www.holycrosshealth.org/health-and-wellness/covid-19-vaccine/schedule-appointment
Vaccine Provider: MedStar Health
Who can sign up: State of Maryland’s 1A-1C can preregister (in their words, “request a vaccine appointment”) — does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions.
Main website: https://www.medstarhealth.org/mhs/about-medstar/covid-19-vaccine-information/
Sign up to pre-register for a vaccine appointment: https://covidvaccine.medstarhealth.org/?opt_id=oeu1612540269174r0.6961076058697293&_ga=2.194918059.729201067.1612636683-1751905011.1612540270
How you will be notified: You will also get an email with private instructions for making your appointment when it is your turn from [email protected]
Who can sign up: State of Maryland’s 1A-1C can sign up for appointments, does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions.
Main website: https://giantfood.com/pages/covid-info
How to register for an appointment: Scroll down to the middle of the main website, click on the purple “SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT HERE” text.
Vaccine Provider: Safeway
Who can sign up: All Marylanders over 65, 1A, 1B (state of Maryland priority groups)
Main website: https://www.safeway.com/pharmacy/covid-19.html
Link to make an appointment: https://www.mhealthappointments.com/covidappt
Sign up for updates: https://www.safeway.com/my-vaccine-communication.html
Vaccine Provider: Johns Hopkins
Who can sign up: Johns Hopkins Patients only who are in one of these categories: Marylanders 65 and up, state of Maryland groups 1A-1C (does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions. )
Other Information: “Patients who meet current eligibility criteria will be contacted via email or phone when it is their turn to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment”– a MyChart account is needed. Patients are randomly selected on a daily basis to receive a call or email about scheduling an appointment.
Sign up for a MyChart account (Hopkins Patients only): https://mychart.hopkinsmedicine.org/mychart/signup
Vaccine Provider: University of Maryland Medical System (Baltimore location only)
Who can sign up: State of Maryland groups 1A-1C (does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions. )
Main Website: https://www.umms.org/coronavirus/covid-vaccine/get-vaccine
Vaccine request form link: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/d1747b1fb8f1433a81b2ea00f93f0e94
Vaccine Provider: Maryland Department of Health MassVax (Located at Six Flags)
Who can sign up: State of Maryland’s 1A-1C (does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions. )
Main website: https://massvax.maryland.gov/
State website with more information: ttps://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/vaccine
Sign up for updates via text : Text “MDREADY” to 898-211
Vaccine Provider: US department of Veteran Affairs
Who can sign up: Veterans 65 and older, Veterans who are under 65 if they: have a co-morbidity, are experiencing homelessness, live in a group home, are on renal dialysis, or use a wheelchair.
To schedule an appointment for the Washington DC VA Medical Center, call: 202-745-4342
To schedule an appointment for the Martinsburg VA Medical Center, call: 800-817-3801 or 304-263-0811
Washington DC VA Medical Center Vaccine Website: https://www.washingtondc.va.gov/services/covid-19-vaccines.asp
Martinsburg VA Medical Medical Center Vaccine Website: https://www.martinsburg.va.gov/services/covid-19-vaccines.asp
__________________________________
Vaccine Provider: Kaiser Permanente
Who can sign up: Kaiser Permanente members AND Non- Kaiser members in 1A, 1B, and who are 75 and older. Right now, they are sending private messages to people who pre-register. You can make an appointment only after you get a private message.
Main Website: https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/maryland-virginia-washington-dc/health-wellness/coronavirus-information/covid-vaccine
How to sign up (if a member): For Kaiser members, complete the interest form here: https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/maryland-virginia-washington-dc/secure/medical-record/questionnaires
How to sign up (if not a Kaiser member): Complete the survey here: https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/maryland-virginia-washington-dc/health-wellness/coronavirus-information/covid-vaccine/vaccination-eligibility
Vaccine Provider (COMING SOON): CVS
Information: News sources have reported that some CVS locations will start offering the vaccine on February 11. No information has been released about which locations in Maryland will offer it.
CVS sign up link (not live for Maryland yet):https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine#statetool
Main vaccine website:https://cvshealth.com/covid-19/vaccine-information
Vaccine Provider (COMING SOON): Sam’s Club
Information: You do not need to be a Sam’s club member. You can create a guest account. Sam’s clubs in Maryland do not offer vaccines yet– currently only available in Pittsburgh. No expected date has been listed for Maryland yet.
Vaccine website (sign up not available yet for Maryland): https://www.samsclub.com/covid
Information: Currently only available in New York City, Washington state, Oregon, and Puerto Rico. No expected date has been listed for Maryland yet.
Vaccine website (sign up not available yet for Maryland) : https://www.costco.com/covid-vaccine.html
List and information compiled by Michelle Katz @pike.and.rozay
The Complete Guide for Attempting to Get a Vaccine (for MoCo Residents)
This information is up to date as of Saturday 2/6.
Getting a vaccine is an extremely frustrating and confusing process at this moment. Some people who believed they had appointments have been turned away on site because they weren’t actually allowed to register yet. Others who sign up for notifications have missed out on getting an appointment because they checked their email too late. This guide is here to help!
*One very important item to note: The priority groups (1A, 1B, 1C, etc) for MoCo and the priority groups for the state of Maryland are not the same. One key difference is most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions are considered 1C in MoCo, but are considered priority group 2 in the state of Maryland. See MoCo’s priority groupings here: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/vaccine/#priority-groups
See the state of Maryland’s priority groupings here: https://covidlink.maryland.gov/content/vaccine/
All links and information below come directly from https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/vaccine . None of these links are private, all are publicly available.
It is highly recommended that if you pre-register or sign up for a notification from a specific provider that you add their email as a favorite contact, a VIP, or that you enable automatic forwarding so you get a text message (see instructions here)
Vaccine Provider: Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services
Who can sign up: MoCo Priority groups 1A-1C (includes under 65 w/pre-existing conditions) can preregister here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=-bEBbuWxc0Csl3eAaaCtZIX4xtdwGclLpDnoMzWyXUdURFA5Tkg5MzBLMkdTQlJPM1BYTlRDR0lEUS4u
Other Information: Currently 1A and people 75 and older in 1B are getting emails with private links to make appointments. The rest of 1B and all of 1C may preregister and are not receiving links to make appointments yet.
Link to main website :https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/vaccine/#priority-groups
How you will be notified: When it is your turn to make an appointment, you will get a private link from this email address: [email protected]
Sign up for updates via text and email: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/MDMONTGOMERY/signup/21366
Vaccine Provider: Adventist
Who can sign up: State of Maryland’s 1A-1C (does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions) — Anyone in these categories can make an appointment when they are available. No pre-registration is necessary.
Other Information: Adventist holds clinics on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Recently, they’ve been announcing appointment availability via email sent at 9pm once a week (changes depending on availability).
Main website: https://www.adventisthealthcare.com/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine/
How you will be notified: Anyone who signs up for an alert will get an email from [email protected] — emails are being sent to EVERYONE, getting an email does not necessarily mean you qualify for an appointment.
Sign up for updates via text and email: https://www.adventisthealthcare.com/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine/alerts/
Vaccine Provider: Holy Cross
Who can sign up: Anyone in the state of Maryland’s 1A and 1B groups can make an appointment when vaccines are available. Holy Cross is not accepting 1C yet.
Other Information: Appointment slots are released at 4 PM on specific weekdays. An announcement on the top of the main website is updated regularly to share when the next 4pm sign up will be. Spots go very fast. There are different links for each priority group.
Main Website: https://www.holycrosshealth.org/health-and-wellness/covid-19-vaccine/schedule-appointment
Link for 1A: https://www.holycrosshealth.org/health-and-wellness/covid-19-vaccine/vaccine-group-1a
Link for 1B: https://www.holycrosshealth.org/health-and-wellness/covid-19-vaccine/vaccine-group-1b (there are additional vaccine appointments reserved for the following groups: people 75 and over, people with intellectual disabilities, people with developmental disabilities. )
How you will be notified: There is not a way to sign up for updates. You have to keep checking the banner at the top of the website to see when the next appointments are available. https://www.holycrosshealth.org/health-and-wellness/covid-19-vaccine/schedule-appointment
Vaccine Provider: MedStar Health
Who can sign up: State of Maryland’s 1A-1C can preregister (in their words, “request a vaccine appointment”) — does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions.
Main website: https://www.medstarhealth.org/mhs/about-medstar/covid-19-vaccine-information/
Sign up to pre-register for a vaccine appointment: https://covidvaccine.medstarhealth.org/?opt_id=oeu1612540269174r0.6961076058697293&_ga=2.194918059.729201067.1612636683-1751905011.1612540270
How you will be notified: You will also get an email with private instructions for making your appointment when it is your turn from [email protected]
Who can sign up: State of Maryland’s 1A-1C can sign up for appointments, does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions.
Main website: https://giantfood.com/pages/covid-info
How to register for an appointment: Scroll down to the middle of the main website, click on the purple “SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT HERE” text.
Vaccine Provider: Safeway
Who can sign up: All Marylanders over 65, 1A, 1B (state of Maryland priority groups)
Main website: https://www.safeway.com/pharmacy/covid-19.html
Link to make an appointment: https://www.mhealthappointments.com/covidappt
Sign up for updates: https://www.safeway.com/my-vaccine-communication.html
Vaccine Provider: Johns Hopkins
Who can sign up: Johns Hopkins Patients only who are in one of these categories: Marylanders 65 and up, state of Maryland groups 1A-1C (does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions. )
Other Information: “Patients who meet current eligibility criteria will be contacted via email or phone when it is their turn to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment”– a MyChart account is needed. Patients are randomly selected on a daily basis to receive a call or email about scheduling an appointment.
Sign up for a MyChart account (Hopkins Patients only): https://mychart.hopkinsmedicine.org/mychart/signup
Vaccine Provider: University of Maryland Medical System (Baltimore location only)
Who can sign up: State of Maryland groups 1A-1C (does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions. )
Main Website: https://www.umms.org/coronavirus/covid-vaccine/get-vaccine
Vaccine request form link: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/d1747b1fb8f1433a81b2ea00f93f0e94
Vaccine Provider: Maryland Department of Health MassVax (Located at Six Flags)
Who can sign up: State of Maryland’s 1A-1C (does NOT include most people under 65 with pre-existing conditions. )
Main website: https://massvax.maryland.gov/
State website with more information: ttps://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/vaccine
Sign up for updates via text : Text “MDREADY” to 898-211
Vaccine Provider: US department of Veteran Affairs
Who can sign up: Veterans 65 and older, Veterans who are under 65 if they: have a co-morbidity, are experiencing homelessness, live in a group home, are on renal dialysis, or use a wheelchair.
To schedule an appointment for the Washington DC VA Medical Center, call: 202-745-4342
To schedule an appointment for the Martinsburg VA Medical Center, call: 800-817-3801 or 304-263-0811
Washington DC VA Medical Center Vaccine Website: https://www.washingtondc.va.gov/services/covid-19-vaccines.asp
Martinsburg VA Medical Medical Center Vaccine Website: https://www.martinsburg.va.gov/services/covid-19-vaccines.asp
__________________________________
List and information compiled by Michelle Katz @pike.and.rozay
1/13 MCPS Media Briefing: Staff Vaccinations, Canceled PSAT, and More
Yesterday, MCPS held its monthly media briefing addressing the topics discussed at this week’s Board of Education meeting plus other questions.
Some of the topics that were addressed:
- Change in family preference for in-person learning: Recent availability of vaccines might have changed the minds of some families who previously responded that they did not want their children attending school in person. Families will have a later opportunity to opt-in for in-person learning if they wish to revise their stance. There will not be another survey distributed, but communication will happen.
- Will the benchmark metrics for a return to in-person learning be revised now that there is a vaccine? MCPS is awaiting a response from the Maryland Department of Health about revising the metrics for opening buildings. Per Superintendent Smith, “The vaccination is another variable now. This will have to be factored in.”
- When and how will staff be vaccinated? According to Dr. Monifa McKnight, “our hope is that by the end of January, we will begin working on that process [of vaccinating our staff].” Currently, educators are in group 1b for receiving the vaccine– county officials will follow up with staff members to discuss the vaccination process.
- MCPS has not announced an ideal benchmark percentage of staff who have been vaccinated.
- Staff interest in vaccine: MCPS is preparing to collect this information. Their current estimate is that 90% of staff would want to be vaccinated. This estimate is based on other counties where 70-90% of staff stated a preference of being vaccinated.
- MCPS buildings as vaccination sites: The county plans to have one school as a vaccination site, they have requested that two more be added.
- Student vaccination: Per Superintendent Smith, there is currently no dictated timeframe or protocol for children and adolescents to be vaccinated. (Per the county’s priority grouping, people aged 16+ with medical conditions are accounted for in phase 1C– no younger people have been added to this priority grouping yet.)
- Canceled PSAT: The upcoming PSAT administration has been canceled due to increasing COVID metrics. The PSAT was scheduled in hopes that the COVID metrics would have allowed students to return to buildings on February 1– this is not the case. SAT can still be administered in person because there is a lower turnout than the PSAT, which is administered to all MCPS juniors. MCPS is unable to come up with enough space for all of its juniors to take the PSAT in a safe manner in person at this moment. There is a possibility that students can take the SAT in lieu of the PSAT.
The media briefing is currently available to the public and can be seen in full here.
By: Michelle Katz @pike.and.rozay
Montgomery County Councilmember Evan Glass tweeted this afternoon (December 31, 2020) that MoCo has distributed almost 3,000 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in the last 48 hours, in addition to the Pfizer vaccine which has been making the rounds with hospital frontline staff across the county.
It also appears that nursing homes will be receiving doses through a direct partnership with retail pharmacies in the area; Glass noted that this process was being coordinated directly by the state of Maryland.
Glass clarified that MoCo’s ability to distribute the vaccine effectively is directly tied to Maryland’s to distribute vaccines directly to MoCo; reporting yesterday (December 30) in the Baltimore Sun noted that more than 80% of MD’s vaccines that are on hand had not yet been administered.
