Maryland is expecting a dramatic jump in its allotment of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Acting Secretary of Health Dennis Schrader said Monday as early as next week, 300,000 to 400,000 doses of the vaccine could be coming to Maryland.
The rise in vaccine doses made available to the state by the federal government, according to Schrader, is due to Johnson and Johnson meeting its production promises, as well as Pfizer and Moderna boosting their output.
While this is welcome news to Schrader, he told members of the State Senate Vaccine Oversight Committee not to bank on all those shots just yet.
“Sometimes the federal government will say available for order, which is not necessarily ready to ship,” Schrader said.
If the extra doses don’t come in next week, Schrader said he believes they could arrive the following week.
This news comes during a week in which Schrader said the state should see a “nice uptick” in first doses received, up to 128,000 shots.
Maryland’s vaccine dashboard shows that of the doses already received, more than 2.2 million of the 2.4 million doses of vaccine distributed have been administered. This includes first and second doses for people receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine only requires one dose.
Over 1.4 million people in the state, or under 24% of the population, have received their first dose, according to the state. More than 700,000-second doses have been given, which accounts for 12% of Maryland’s population.
As for the Johnson and Johnson single-dose vaccine, almost 57,000 people or under 1% of the population have received those injections.
Can Maryland handle the big rise in vaccine supply? Schrader said he believes the state can and is capable of handling the administering of 500,000 doses in a week.
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Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.
