COVID-19 Vaccine To Be Administered At Howard Community College

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — A second COVID-19 vaccination clinic will be opening at Howard Community College's athletics and fitness center Jan. 25. The new vaccination clinic will be able to administer approximately 1,500 doses of vaccine every day, depending upon vaccine supply, officials noted. The college's health sciences division has partnered with the Howard County Health Department and Howard County General Hospital to help with vaccination distribution. HCC students also will assist with intake, vaccination, patient teaching and out-processing of patients. Additionally, several of the college’s nursing faculty have volunteered their time to help administer vaccines.

On Tuesday, Howard County adults age 75 and older began receiving their vaccinations as part of Phase 1B. So far, the Howard County Health Department has administered 92.6 percent of the vaccines it's received since Dec. 23 when the first batch of doses arrived.

“I want the message to be clear – when Howard County receives more vaccine, we get shots in arms immediately,” Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said in a statement. “We’re working around the clock to rapidly scale up vaccination clinics and vaccinate up to 20,000 people per week. As we’ve known since the start of this pandemic, it’s going to take all of us working together to get to the other side of this.”

Phase 1A
Vaccinations for Phase 1A are ongoing. Phase 1A includes all licensed healthcare providers, correctional officers, law enforcement agencies and frontline judiciary staff. To date, 7,600 doses have been administered to Phase 1A and the health department estimates there are up to 15,000 people in this group.

Phase 1B
Vaccinations for Phase 1B started Tuesday. Phase 1B includes those ages 75 and over; those residing in assisted living facilities or special needs group homes; developmentally disabled populations; continuity of government; and kindergarten through 12th grade teachers, education staff and childcare providers. The health department estimates there are up to 35,000 people in this group.

The HCHD opened pre-registration for Phase 1B adults 75+ Jan.14. Since last week, more than 12,700 residents have already preregistered for vaccinations. Residents who complete the preregistrations are then notified via email with appointment and registration information. If residents are unable to complete the survey online, officials encourage them to ask a friend, neighbor or family member for assistance. Those 75+ can also email HoCovaccine@howardcountymd.gov or call 410-313-6284 for assistance completing the survey. The surveys are also available in multiple languages.

The Howard County Public School System will coordinate vaccinations for kindergarten through 12th grade educators and staff. Non-public school educators and childcare providers who are also apart of Phase 1B will be able to preregister for vaccination through the HCHD in the coming weeks.

"The distribution process that we are implementing ensures efficiency and prioritizes HCPSS staff who currently have in-person interactions with students, followed by staff who we expect will have interactions with students. Our school nurses and health assistants are receiving training this week on how to administer the vaccine and will be supporting the process to vaccinate our staff and community," HCPSS Superintendent Dr. Michael J. Martirano said in a statement.

Phase 1C
Phase 1C vaccinations are expected to begin in February. Phase 1C includes residents ages 65-74, public safety and health workers, essential workers in grocery stores, food production, labs, manufacturing, public transit and the postal service. The preregistration for residents 65-74 also is open for residents.

Older Adult Outreach
The Howard County Office on Aging and Independence is working to increase vaccine communications with phone calls, online information, signage and flyers posted throughout 55+ communities, senior residences or apartment buildings, assisted living facilities, healthcare providers and commercial areas, through traditional mail and through COVID-safe in-person direct community engagement.

Mobile Integrated Unit
The Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services‘ Mobile Integrated Community Health program has deployed rapid response teams, decontamination teams, follow-up home visits for patients that were symptomatic or known positive but chose to convalesce at home and with sample collection for public safety personnel’s antibody testing.

The MICH team now will be assisting the health department with the vaccination clinics. The team’s ability to move around to locations where groups or individuals are not ambulatory will help in the vaccination of at-risk groups or people. Currently, this program is in the planning phase to determine facility/location and other logistical needs between the health department and DFRS.

“Expanding our clinic operations to include a comfortable and accessible location like Howard Community College, will allow us to vaccinate many more of the county’s residents against COVID-19,” Dr. Maura Rossman, Howard County Health Officer, said. “Our hope is that vaccine availability will be able to meet the demands of the expansion.”