ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday that more than 40% of Marylanders ages 65 and older have now received COVID-19 vaccines.
Overall, Maryland providers have administered 1,322,588 COVID-vaccines and 95.6% of all first doses received from the federal government. As of Monday, the state is averaging a new record of 35,072 shots per day
“We continue to follow the science and make vaccinating older Marylanders one of our highest priorities as we work to ensure equitable access to vaccines,” Hogan said. “This will continue to be a long process, but we anticipate more supply coming that will help us increase this pace even further.”
On Feb. 23, state officials announced plans to launch a statewide registration portal for its mass vaccination sites during a Senate Vaccine Oversight Workgroup virtual meeting.
The new registration system will launch this month and allows eligible residents to pre-register for appointments.
“In March, we’re going to be launching a statewide preregistration system to support our state-run mass vaccination sites and this is going to allow us to manage the flow of appointments, which we're very excited about,” Acting Health Secretary Dennis Schrader said. "It will also help us to coordinate with county health departments and allow both mass vaccine sites and the local health departments to manage appointments.
Schrader acknowledged that while supplies still remain limited currently, the registration portal is a preparatory step for a future when vaccines are widely available.
"Most importantly, we expect that establishing a pre-registration system will improve the user experience and prepare for the day when supplies are very, very abundant," Schrader said.