ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Six new COVID-19 mass vaccination sites will be open to serve residents in Maryland by the end of April, according to Gov. Larry Hogan.
During his weekly COVID-19 news briefing Tuesday afternoon, Hogan announced that starting the week of April 5, two more mass vaccination sites will open in Maryland: one at Montgomery College in Germantown and the other in Baltimore County at the Timonium Fairgrounds.
Two additional sites will open in Anne Arundel and Frederick counties the week of April 12. Hogan did not specify where those sites would be located.
Finally, by the end of April, two more sites will open in Harford and Howard counties -- bringing the total to 12 mass vaccination sites serving Marylanders.
“We have over 2,500 points of distribution and will grow by hundreds more to over 3,000, adding hundreds of doctors’ offices and pharmacies in addition to expanding the reach of community clinics through our equity task force operation,” Hogan said. “I want to once again strongly encourage all Marylanders to please get vaccinated when it is your turn.”
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As of Tuesday, Maryland has administered 2,252,974 COVID-19 vaccines and is averaging 43,882 shots per day, the governor said. Thirty-four percent of adult Marylanders have received the vaccine and that number goes up to 70% for Marylanders 65 and older.
Maryland is currently seeing a rise in both cases and hospitalizations. The state is now averaging 958 cases a day – up 22% from two weeks ago – and as of Tuesday has nearly 900 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. As of Tuesday, more than 400,000 people in the state have now contracted the virus.
According to the latest data from Maryland’s Health Department, more than 230,000 Montgomery County residents have received at least one dose of vaccine which is the most of any county in Maryland by far.
Montgomery County’s vaccination rate is nearly 22% of its population receiving the first dose -- the statewide total is 21%. The county, according to recent data, is the state's largest jurisdiction with nearly 1.1 million residents.
“Of the five places where the most county residents have gotten the most vaccines, three of them are mass vaccination sites outside of Montgomery County,” Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said last Wednesday during his weekly COVID briefing.
Elrich added that he felt the situation favors wealthier, whiter residents.
“An Uber ride for the person who doesn’t have a car to make this journey is like $100 round trip to some of these places,” he said.