Governor Hogan Press Conference – April 5, 2021
Governor Larry Hogan:
- Major milestones reached over the last week: Had first day with over 75,000 vaccinations, and now more than 3 million Marylanders have received the vaccine.
- Averaging 61,331 vaccines administered each day, vaccinating at rate faster than 36 other states.
- More than 76% of all Marylanders over age 65 have been vaccinated.
- Nearly 42% of all Marylanders over age 18 have been vaccinated.
- 500,000 have pre-registered.
- Another acceleration of vaccine eligibility: Beginning tomorrow morning, any and all Marylanders age 16+ are now eligible to get a vaccine at any mass vaccination site.
- By April 12, all providers in the state will be required to allow vaccines for anyone over the age of 16. For those age 16 or 17, only the Pfizer vaccine is approved by the FDA.
- Mass vaccination sites:
- Three more mass vaccination sites opening this week: FEMA site at Greenbelt Metro Station Prince George’s County, Maryland State Fairgrounds in Baltimore County, and the Montgomery College Campus in Germantown
- Week of April 12: Next week sites will open in Frederick Community College and at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Anne Arundel County
- Week of April 19: Ripken Stadium in Harford County
- Week of April 26: The Mall in Columbia in Howard County
- No-appointment-necessary walk-up lines:
- On Friday, the first no-appointment-necessary walk-up line at the Eastern Shore site in Salisbury launched.
- Tomorrow, the no-appointment line will be available in Hagerstown; and beginning next week at M&T Bank Stadium.
- No-appointment-necessary lines will be available at each of the new mass vaccination sites that are opening.
- The best way to obtain the vaccine is still to preregister and get an appointment: visit covidvax.maryland.gov or call the state support center 1-855-MD-GOVAX
- Vaccines are now being provided to 481 pharmacies in Maryland; the federal government is providing additional supplies to pharmacies so they can make more appointments available. Providers are listed on the website above.
- Just because eligibility has opened up, it doesn’t mean everyone will immediately be able to get an appointment. But with supply increasing, everybody who wants one should be able to get it in April and May. The process can now move more quickly given increased supply and the established infrastructure.
- There’s been an increase in the positivity rates among young people, and getting more people vaccinated as soon as possible is the best defense.
- Maryland still has a mask mandate. Contact tracing shows that family gatherings, working outside the home and travel are still how most cases are transmitted.
- Thank you to all the vaccinators on the front line, nurses, members of the National Guard, volunteers, and clinical partners working around the clock.
Dr. Ted Delbridge – Executive Director of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems
- 1100 hospitalized in Maryland, 22% in ICU
- It is still important to:
- Wear a mask on your mouth and nose when around other people
- implement physical distancing
- wash hands frequently, and
- stay home if feeling ill
- The best strategy is through a vaccine.
- The proportion of new cases affecting older people age 60 years and older has decreased 30% – these are the people in the first waves of the vaccine.
- Frequently asked questions about the vaccine:
- Does it work? Yes, it is 94-95% effective.
- Can I get it it? No nothing in the vaccine uses the actual virus.
- Is it safe? Millions of doses have been administered, initially to older people, including those who may be more frail and vulnerable.
- Less than 5 in a million may develop a reaction.
- Are there side effects? Some may get mild symptoms that last a short time – it’s from your own immune system revving up.
- Maybe I’ll wait it out to take my chances? Not a good plan. It is a serious illness: more than 8,000 Marylanders have died, more than 418,000 have been infected, and 37,000 were admitted to a hospital, many with lasting effects. And those closest to you may not be so lucky when you pass the virus along to them. When passed along from one to another, it’s a chance for the virus to get even stronger.
- Baseball analogy: The best way to stop a a run from scoring is to get the batter out before they get on base. No base runners means no runners can score.
