MD Ramps Up Vaccine Distribution, Eases Hospital Visitation Rules

MARYLAND — With coronavirus-related hospitalizations and positivity rates trending down, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced some easing of restrictions across the state, including at hospitals and nursing homes. He also reported an investment toward the reopening of schools, including a commitment to provide an unlimited supply of personal protective equipment.

"We are pushing back against this invisible enemy, and we're making great progress," Hogan said Thursday, noting hospitalizations were the lowest since Nov. 22.

"We have seen significant improvements in all of our key statewide COVID-19 metrics," the governor said. Over the last four weeks, he said the positivity rate dropped by more than 46 percent to 5.08 percent, which is the lowest since Nov. 8.

In the last six weeks, Hogan said the state has also been "rapidly accelerating" its distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Maryland has administered 785,170 vaccines to the 2.1 million Marylanders who are currently eligible over the past six weeks," Hogan said at a news conference in Annapolis Thursday, Feb. 11.

The rate of vaccines administered has increased from 3,000 to more than 26,200 a day, the governor reported. Even so, he said there were not enough to go around to all those eligible.

"We need more damn vaccines," Hogan said, noting vaccinations were being administered at a rate that was "more than double the current supply that we are being given."

Two mass vaccination sites opened Feb. 5 — at Six Flags America in Prince George's County and the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore City — and more are on the horizon.

• The M&T Bank Stadium mass vaccination site will open Thursday, Feb. 25, with appointments becoming available next week, Hogan said.
• Next month other sites will open in southern Maryland, western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore.
• Text "MDReady" to 898-211 for updates on the mass vaccination sites or visit https://covidlink.maryland.gov/content/vaccine/govax/.

"We have built an infrastructure that is able to administer anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 shots per day as soon as they're made by the manufacturers and allocated to us by the federal government," Hogan said. "At this point, we are simply waiting every week for more vaccines to arrive."

Maryland is "continuing to broaden the distribution network to ensure as many points of access as possible," Hogan said.

Vaccine Pipeline Is Stalled

The state is in Phase 1c of its vaccine distribution plan, but not all people who qualify are able to get appointments.

"People are going to continue to struggle to get an appointment," Hogan said. "You can't schedule an appointment if you don't have a vaccine. It doesn't matter if you're calling, contacting the state website or a county or a hospital."

Responding to the push by some lawmakers for a central website for scheduling an appointment, the governor said: "We're not going to schedule something we don't have ... so [it] doesn't matter how you address that, it's not going to fix the problem until we get the supply."

Federal health officials will be giving states more of an idea as to how many vaccines they may provide in the coming weeks, according to the governor, who said previously they were informed over the weekend of the plan for the next week.

"We have now directed the Maryland Department of Health to provide county officials with four-week allocation projections, so that they can plan ahead and can open up more appointments for their clinics," Hogan said. "We will also continue to increase allocations to each county across all the providers in those counties, including pharmacies, hospitals and local health department clinics and others as the vaccine supply increases, and those allocations will be made equitably based on the population of each county."

School Reopening Assistance

As of Thursday, Hogan said 22 of 24 school systems have begun or have agreed to begin in-school instruction by March 1.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to provide guidance Friday for reopening schools, according to the governor.

Nearly 1 million coronavirus tests for local school systems will be provided between "now and the end of June," Hogan said. These will be available to both public and non-public schools.

Health Department Eases Some Restrictions

Statewide, Hogan said the number of coronavirus patients in Maryland hospitals has been trending down over the last four weeks.

With hospitalizations declining for the last four weeks, Hogan said the state has the lowest number of coronavirus patients in Maryland hospitals since Nov. 22.

"However, we need to remain cautious and vigilant as we continue doing all the things that we have helped us make tremendous progress," Hogan said.

Limited visitation will be allowed to resume at Maryland hospitals, subject to each hospital's policies.

Limited indoor visitation will be able to resume in Maryland nursing homes, effective March 1, provided there are no active cases and proper testing protocols are in place, according to new orders from the Maryland Department of Health.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Watch the governor's Feb. 11 news conference.

For the latest on the coronavirus vaccine, get Maryland Patch newsletters.

Related:

• MD Schools Should Reopen, Governor Says
• Essential Federal Worker Vaccinations Put Extra Burden On MD: Leaders
• Vaccine Sign-Up Frustrates Marylanders; Leaders Want Single Form
• AACPS Votes To Implement Hybrid Learning No Later Than March 1
• BCPS Releases Reopening Plan For Phased-In Hybrid Learning
• MCPS Plans To Reopen Schools Starting March 1
• HCPS Offers 2 Days Of In-Person Learning For Elementary Students
• Fauci Combats Coronavirus Vaccine Hesitancy Among Marylanders

Here is the latest coronavirus data for Maryland as of Thursday, Feb. 11: