Maryland governor announces expansion of vaccination phases

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Thursday when the next phases of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility will take effect, with residents 60 and older becoming eligible starting next week and plans for all residents over 16 becoming eligible no later than April 27.

In what’s known as Phase 2A, starting Tuesday, residents over 60 will be eligible, and they can now begin preregistering for an appointment at the state’s mass vaccination sites on the phone or online, Hogan said. The governor said nearly 90% of COVID-19 deaths in the state have been in people over 60.

“By prioritizing this age group, we will take a huge leap forward in the effort to protect our most vulnerable citizens from this virus,” Hogan said at a news conference.

On March 30, Maryland residents 16 and over with underlying medical conditions will be eligible for Phase 2B. On April 13, everyone 55 and over and all essential workers in critical industries will be eligible in Phase 2C. Maryland residents over 16 will be eligible no later than April 27 for Phase 3.

“As we continue to leverage every possible resource we can to get shots into arms as efficiently and equitably as possible, we have built the infrastructure capacity, and we’re being promised the increase of supply to be able to vaccinate every Marylander in the next couple of months,” Hogan said.

President Joe Biden has promised that all of the nation’s 255 million adults will be eligible for coronavirus vaccines by May 1. Hogan said the White House told governors states would begin to see a significant increase in vaccine supply the week of March 29, though he said the federal government has not committed to exact numbers yet.

The Republican governor said Maryland is getting incremental, small increases each week, and he believes the increase will become significant late this month. The state now averages about 43,000 shots a day, he said.

“I don’t have an exact number, and they haven’t given us final numbers, but I think it’s going to be significant,” Hogan said. “I mean, I really believe that if they deliver on what they say they’re going to deliver that April is going to look a heck of a lot different than March, and that while we’re very close to 50,000 a day that we can get to 100,000 a day.”

The governor noted that Maryland has infrastructure in place that is capable of doing about 100,000 shots a day or more.

“As we continue to leverage every possible resource we can to get shots into arms as efficiently and equitably as possible, we have built the infrastructure capacity and we’re being promised the increase of supply to be able to vaccinate every Marylander in the next couple of months,” Hogan said.

The governor also announced the state is launching a pilot program Thursday to provide vaccine doses directly to primary care providers. The program involves 37 practices throughout the state, including ones that serve Black and Hispanic communities and ones with less geographic access to other vaccination sites.

The state also is launching a new $12 million community vaccination program that will fund hospital-led, community-based vaccination initiatives.

The state’s vaccine equity task force is launching mobile vaccine clinics in rural parts of the state that are hard to reach, Hogan said. It will be staffed by the Maryland National Guard.