Maryland’s hospitals have reached a new milestone: administering more than one million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. As of Monday, more than 4 million Marylanders have received at least one dose, according to state data.
CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA) Bob Atlas told WYPR that hospitals have been “deeply involved” in getting Marylanders vaccinated.
“We're obviously very proud of what our hospitals are doing to fight COVID in every respect, not least of which, of course, is including the deal with the recent surge in cases,” Atlas said.
State data indicates that of the more than 1.8 million Marylanders fully vaccinated, more than 460,000 got their shots from hospitals.
Now, the state’s positivity rate is declining. The state’s seven-day average testing positivity rate as of Monday, according to state data, is about 4.51%. A week ago, on Monday, April 19, the positivity rate was 5.4%.
But Atlas warned Marylanders must stay vigilant, noting recent waves of COVID-19 in states like Michigan, and abroad in India.
“We can have resurgences if we're not careful,” Atlas said. “Hopefully, vaccinations will become widespread enough that enough people will be protected against that.”
Atlas noted that surges over the past few weeks were especially high in central Maryland.
“That was concerning. Our hospitals in Baltimore City were really feeling the strain, in part because not only did they have a lot of COVID patients, but they were still trying to meet the pent up demand from all the people who have other conditions,” Atlas said.
Atlas adds that hospitals will resume administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, now that the CDC and FDA gave a green light this past weekend.
The vaccine was paused over a week ago after six women who got the vaccine developed extremely rare blood clots. Atlas said he imagines some people may be more reluctant to get the J&J vaccine, but on balance, you should still get the shot.
“Vaccination is better than not vaccination,” he said. “The number of cases that had those adverse events is still extremely low.”
Nearly 8 million Americans have received the J&J vaccine.
