LARGO, Md. — Health authorities in Prince George’s County are faced with the possibility of canceling more than 4,000 vaccine appointments Friday if shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine are not delivered, according to a statement from the county’s Department of Health.
Meanwhile, health officials in Montgomery County have suspended booking any new vaccination appointments for next week due to the supply disruption, according to a health department spokesperson. Maryland's Department of Health says the winter weather crisis across the nation is to blame for shipping delays.
“Severe winter weather across the United States continues to affect the federal government’s shipments of COVID-19 vaccines to providers in Maryland and other states,” the Maryland Health Department said in a statement. “This may have a significant impact on providers’ ability to hold clinics as scheduled."
Prince George’s County got the bad news from the state yesterday, according to County Department of Health spokesman George Lettis.
“We received notification from the Maryland Department of Health informing us that due to the winter weather sweeping the nation, we will likely see a delay of the 4,200 first doses of vaccine we were promised this week,” Lettis said in an email. “We are hopeful that we may receive this shipment Friday, but if we don’t, this will likely require the health department to cancel first dose appointments Friday, and during our weekend clinics.”
Prince George's County Health Department has only 573 remaining doses on hand which is not enough to cover the appointments that have been booked, according to Lettis.
In Montgomery County, authorities have suspended offering any new appointments until promised shipments arrive, Health and Human Services Department spokesperson Mary Anderson said. She said there is enough vaccine on hand to handle the approximately 1,600 people with existing appointments who expected to be vaccinated this week.
Thursday’s winter storm forced the postponement of vaccination clinics at Richard Montgomery High School and Quince Orchard High School. As a result, the county will hold make-up clinics over the weekend for people whose appointments were delayed, Anderson said.
People with postponed appointments for Richard Montgomery High School are being rescheduled at the High School for Saturday. The postponed Quince Orchard High School appointments are being moved to Sunday.
“Due to the severe winter weather currently impacting various parts of the country, we anticipate delays in COVID-19 vaccine shipments and deliveries," Maryland Department of Health said in a statement to counties. "Please note that the delays have also impacted some deliveries through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.”
Maryland authorities reported that the disruptions began Monday with both Moderna and Pfizer unable to get shipments out. The delays continued through Wednesday.
RELATED: No Moderna vaccines, limited Pfizer doses have been shipped in Maryland this week due to weather
Some shipments were called back by distributor McKesson, according to state health authorities.
“We anticipate a significant backlog of orders for distribution once operations resume and every effort will be made to catch up as soon as possible while safely delivering the vaccines,” the Maryland Department of Health told county health departments.
Meanwhile, CVS is putting the brakes on booking new appointments in the DMV.
"To ensure we have the amount of vaccine needed for appointments, we only make appointments available via our scheduling system once we receive doses of the vaccine," CVS said in a statement. "As a result, we have not added any appointments for Maryland as of yet this week. When we receive the vaccine allotment, we will make more appointments available in the state. As soon as the next vaccine shipment comes in, we’ll add more appointments."