Over 2,400 people got vaccinated at Howard Community College Saturday. MarylandReporter.com photo
COVID VARIANT FOUND IN MARYLAND: The new, highly transmissible coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa has emerged in Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Saturday, marking the second state to report a confirmed case of the mutated virus, report Derek Hawkins, Miriam Berger and Meryl Kornfield for the Post.
STATE LAUNCHES GoVAX CAMPAIGN: Pointing to a brighter future with fans at Baltimore Orioles games, backyard cookouts and family visits, community and political leaders launched Maryland’s “GoVAX” campaign Friday to convince people to get the coronavirus vaccine, Emily Opilo and Pamela Wood report in the Sun.
Prince George s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, right, and Gov. Larry Hogan talk to patrons of a Giant Pharmacy vaccination site in District Heights. Governor s Office photo by Patrick Seibert
VACCINATION EFFORTS STILL SLOW, SHOW RACIAL DISPARITY: The rate of COVID-19 vaccinations continues at a tedious pace, so slow that one Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health expert said Thursday it’s not yet possible to see a difference in the course of the pandemic, Jayne Miller reports for WBALTV. The vaccination efforts so far show a racial disparity,with just 14.6 of the state’s Black population vaccinated.
The Carroll County Commissioners are questioning the decision to move forward with plans to vaccinate those over 65 and essential workers before they’ve vaccinated all the people over 75, Yasmine Askari reports for the Carroll County Times. About 11,000 Carroll residents are over 75, but only 520 have been vaccinated and another 500 were scheduled to be vaccinated Th
State Roundup: Dem leaders push $520M in relief targeting small biz, vulnerable Marylanders
The State Senate Jan. 22, 2021. MarylandReporter.com photo
DEMS PROPOSE $520M TARGETED RELIEF PACKAGE: Senate Democratic leaders Wednesday unveiled a $520 million coronavirus fiscal relief package aimed at helping both the state’s small businesses and its most vulnerable communities survive the pandemic, Bryan Renbaum of Maryland Reporter writes.
The Senate’s “Recovery Now” plan runs a wide gamut of priorities: sending millions to food banks and fire departments; wiping out utility and rental debt for a few thousand families; awarding grants for businesses, artists and nonprofits; paying $1,000 to tens of thousands of people stuck in limbo in the unemployment system; restoring buses and trains to pre-pandemic service levels; and funding “wellmobiles” to administer doses of the coronavirus vaccine, Pamela Wood of the Sun reports.
Figures from the Thurgood Marshall plaza on Lawyer s Mall across from the State House. MarylandReporter.com photo
STATE TO ROLL OUT MASS VACCINE SITES: To speed up and increase the efficiency of the state’s rollout of its supply of coronavirus vaccines, “mass vaccination sites” will be set up throughout Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday. Bryan Renbaum of Maryland Reporter is reporting that Hogan said that the “hundreds” of the state’s guard members who had been deployed to Washington, D.C., to assist with security for last week’s inauguration ceremony for President Joe Biden will be “immediately” redeployed back to Maryland to help “plan, build, and launch” the vaccination sites.
State Roundup: Demand for vaccine outpaces supply as lawmakers question hybrid delivery system
St. Ann s and Church Circle in Annapolis. MidAtlantic Aerial photo
MYRIAD FACTORS SPUR FRUSTRATION OVER VACCINE DISTRIBUTION: Demand for COVID-19 vaccines in Maryland is quickly outpacing the state’s supply of vaccines, causing confusion for residents and prompting tough questions from lawmakers at the first meeting of the Senate Vaccine Oversight Workgroup on Monday. Bennett Leckrone of Maryland Matters writes that the state is only getting about 72,000 doses a week on average from the federal government, Acting Secretary of Health Dennis R. Schrader told lawmakers on Monday.