With back-to-school season fast approaching, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has declared August Immunization Awareness Month.
The state is promoting two online portals to help you determine your family’s vaccination status.
Maryland’s new Are You Up-To-Date? portal can tell you if you’ve received all of the COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters that you’re eligible for.
The portal asks a series of questions about things including your age, whether or not you’re immunocompromised, and how long it has been since your last vaccine dose. The questions take about two minutes to complete.
“The dominant BA.5 subvariant is a reminder of how important it is for Marylanders to stay up to date on vaccines and boosters, as well as routine immunizations,” Hogan said in a statement.
“Through our COVIDReady Maryland plan, we will continue to maximize all of the available tools and treatments for preventing severe illness, and maintaining a state of readiness so that we are prepared to respond to emerging waves and variants.”
Another portal, MyIR Mobile, allows Marylanders to access official copies of immunization records belonging to themselves or a family member.
You must register in order to use that secure portal. Once the name and personal information you enter is matched to an immunization record on file, a verification code is sent to your phone to complete the process.
“We encourage all families to get the COVID-19 vaccine or booster during their routine immunizations, an important step in keeping Maryland children strong, healthy, and COVIDReady,” Dr. Jinlene Chan, Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services at the Maryland Department of Health, said in a statement. “Protect your children and your neighbors by contacting your local health care provider, the school nurse, or your local health department to ensure all your child’s shots are up to date.”
More than 95% of Marylanders age 12 and up have received a first dose of COVID vaccine. Among 12- to 17-year-olds, 88.9% have received their first dose, along with 51.4% of 5- to 11-year-olds. As for kids age 5 and younger, 7.6% have gotten their first dose — the third highest percentage in the country in that age group.
Most of the D.C. region remains at the medium community level for COVID-19, and some areas remain at the low level. Last week, Montgomery County, the state’s most populous county, said its data indicated they had reached the high level based on hospitalization metrics.
