Health officials informed the Montgomery County Council on Tuesday about the province’s vaccination plan so far.
A lawmaker in Montgomery County, Maryland, is urging the county to start vaccinating with older adults earlier this week, who are only eligible for COVID-19 vaccines under accelerated state guidelines.
But health officials in the province say they are still working to vaccinate thousands of health workers, and that the state is not providing enough doses of the vaccines to soon be shot in large numbers in the arms of people aged 75 and older. do not start posting. .
Under Phase 1b of Maryland’s coronavirus vaccination plan, the older adults could receive the shots from Monday. Other jurisdictions, including neighboring Prince George County, continue to provide vaccines for people aged 75 and over.
Hans Riemer, a member of the At-Large council, said during a hearing in Montgomery County Council on Tuesday that he was campaigning for the expansion of vaccinations under state guidelines, and said seniors in Montgomery County “should feel they are a priority” . “
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Earl Stoddard, the director of the province’s Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, said the province still needs to vaccinate between 15,000 and 20,000 health workers, such as dentists and pharmacists.
Elderly people in front of the queue will also put the country in a dilemma.
“If we are going to vaccinate 75-year-olds this week, it will be basic … to take doses from the health workers and give them to the 75-year-old population,” Stoddard told the council during the hearing on Tuesday. “These are the kind of choices we’ll have to make.”
The province’s vaccination efforts will also be the subject of a virtual town hall discussion Tuesday at 7 p.m., hosted by Montgomery County Council.
Supply low, demand sky high
In general, the supply of COVID-19 vaccines provided by Maryland is extremely limited. The province’s award for this week amounted to only 7,300 first doses of the vaccine, officials told councilors.
On the other hand, the demand is sky high.
As a first step toward Phase 1b vaccinations, Montgomery County has admitted residents to register at the pre-registration for the next vaccination phase from Friday.
As of Monday, about 53,000 people had signed up to sign up for phase 1b vaccinations, Drs. Raymond Crowel, director of the department of health and human services in Montgomery County, said.
Riemer nevertheless insisted on the elderly being able to get vaccinated, even if it was weeks into the future.
“There’s so much anxiety out there because older people hear that they can be vaccinated in Virginia, they can be vaccinated in DC, and they can be vaccinated in Prince George’s County,” Riemer said. ‘But they can not be vaccinated in Montgomery County, and that is untenable. We need to be able to present it. ”
No vaccines left on the shelves
Health officials said they were using up their stockpiles of vaccines provided by the state every week and that there were no remaining doses on the shelves. In fact, in terms of the large amount of doses administered, the province leads the state.
Health Officer, dr. Travis Gayles, said that Montgomery Province distributes the vaccine doses it receives from the state every week. “We have expelled all the vaccine that has been distributed … we have nothing left,” he added.
Officials said the governor’s announcement last week to move to phase 1b and 1c next week “creates a great expectation that something is available to people who are not,” Stoddard said, pointing to the limited supplies provided by the state.
Some councilors have said they have even heard of Montgomery County residents 75 years and older making appointments in neighboring Prince George County, using the digital signage.
Prince George’s County announced Monday that it will limit Phase 1b vaccine appointments to people living and working only in the country from Feb. 9.
Montgomery County officials said they are working on ways to expand the offering, including using doses of hospitals – which receive their doses directly from the federal government – for public use, or using other forms of health care workers who are still on shots. wait to inoculate.
During the hearing on Tuesday, councilors questioned how the state distributes the vaccines it receives from the federal government to the various provinces.
At-Large councilor Evan Glass called the state’s decision “confusing”.
“I’m trying to figure out how the state distributes the vaccine shortage fairly and equitably and why we are no longer receiving it here in Montgomery County, with a population of nearly 1.1 million people,” Glass said.
But he added: “We are at the mercy of the state and the state is at the mercy of the federal government.”
Phase 1c next week is also likely to be delayed
In general, the limited supply may also delay the promotion of the province to further levels of phase 1b, such as teachers, as well as phase 1c, which includes people aged 65 and over. According to the state guidelines, Phase 1c will start on 25 January.
In general, the state receives a total of about 72,000 vaccine doses per week from the federal government, which are then distributed to the provinces.
According to Montgomery County, between 100,000 and 140,000 residents have been vaccinated according to Phase 1b, which is yet to begin.
“So if the state of Maryland gives us every dose that the state receives, it will take us at least two weeks to vaccinate everything that is in 1b before we could go to 1c,” Stoddard said.