Essential Federal Worker Vaccinations Put Extra Burden On MD

MARYLAND — Elected leaders in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia are asking the federal government to play a bigger role in administering coronavirus vaccines to federal employees the government identifies as essential.

Since the first vaccination programs began in the region almost two months ago, leaders in Maryland, Virginia and D.C. say they have been handling vaccinations for these employees with little help from the federal government.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan joined Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in sending a letter Wednesday to the leaders of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency requesting a dedicated vaccination site and coordinated messaging for administering the vaccine to federal workers, contractors and WMATA employees in the D.C. metropolitan area.

More than 281,000 federal civilian employees work in the D.C. area. The federal government has identified more than 10 percent of these workers as critical personnel to ensuring the continuity of national societal functions.

Among the workers who fall into the essential federal category are the many employees who work for defense contractors and who live in the region. Like government workers at the Defense Department and other agencies, the defense contractors are identified as "essential to national security."

Along with a vaccination site and better messaging, the governors and D.C. mayor want a dedicated allocation of vaccines and associated supplies to support the vaccination of essential federal workers, contractors and WMATA employees.

"The District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia are focused on vaccinating our residents according to the framework recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," Northam, Bowser and Hogan said in their letter. "We welcome the opportunity to support the administration's efforts to ensure the continuity of operations for the United States federal government."

The leaders noted that federal agencies have prioritized certain federal employees and contractors to get the COVID-19 vaccine. But the leaders said they cannot meet the vaccination goals of the federal government under current conditions without more support.

"The District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia simply do not have the resources available to support these priority vaccinations, due to the additional burden on local resources that this mission would require — especially when considering the amount of vaccine each state receives," Northam, Bowser and Hogan wrote.

The leaders also want a direct supply of COVID-19 vaccinations to people detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in the region and for whom the federal government has sole responsibility.

The workers identified by the federal government as critical to the functioning of the government include employees and contractors of the executive branch, legislative and judicial branches of the government as well as independent agencies such as the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Postal Service.

The dedicated allocation of vaccines and associated supplies to vaccinate these federal workers and contractors should come from the federal supply and should not be taken from the supply of Virginia, D.C., or Maryland, the leaders emphasized.

The federally operated vaccination site for these essential federal workers, as proposed by the regional leaders, should be located at a site that is easily accessible, they said.

Read the letter.

— By Virginia Patch editor Mark Hand