BOWIE, Md. — Maryland leaders announced Wednesday that the mass vaccination site in Bowie would be quadrupling the number of COVID vaccine appointments reserved for Prince George's County residents.
Gov. Larry Hogan and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said that beginning next week, the state will set aside at least 300 priority appointments per day — 2,100 per week — for Prince Georgians on the county’s pre-registration list at Six Fags. Previously, 500 appointments per week were available to county residents at the mass vaccination site.
“With vaccine supply from the federal government set to increase in the coming weeks, we are able to further expand priority appointments for Prince Georgians,” Hogan said. “I want to commend the county executive and her team for all the steps they have taken to increase the vaccination rate in the county.”
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Through the state's vaccine equity plan, Hogan said state officials are providing Prince George's County residents with more appointments at Six Flags, a new clinic opening up in Glenarden, ongoing clinics at local pharmacies and other pop-up clinics for underserved communities throughout the county.
“We have been working diligently in the county to expand vaccination access for our residents, and these new partnerships and increased access to appointments will help ensure vaccines are being distributed equitably to the hardest-hit jurisdiction in the state,” Alsobrooks said.
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In total, the state will be directly facilitating nearly 10,000 priority appointments per week for Prince Georgians, including the following efforts:
- The Maryland Vaccine Equity Task Force has worked with county leaders to establish a clinic at First Baptist Church of Glenarden for Prince George’s County.
- This clinic will ramp up to 980 shots per day by the end of the month, for a total of 6,860 shots per week.
- Walmart is conducting 500-dose closed clinics for county residents each week at its Clinton store and 200 dose-clinics at its Landover store. Wegmans has begun 200-dose closed clinics at its Lanham store.
- This is at least 900 shots per week for county residents through pharmacy partnerships.
- Giant is utilizing 2,200 doses for closed clinics to vaccinate disabled populations.
Hogan and Alsobrooks said the state will also provide weekly allocations to the Prince George’s County Health Department, hospitals, and community health centers to vaccinate eligible populations.
The Prince George's County health department has opened four vaccination clinics across the county and launched three mobile vaccination units -- increasing its capacity to approximately 15,000 vaccinations per week.
Officials said priority appointments for the Six Flags site will continue to be booked through text-based outreach to eligible residents from the Prince George’s County pre-registration list. The county health department is continuing to provide information for 30,000 individuals from its pre-registration list for this effort.