Gov. Larry Hogan Visits COVID-19 Vaccination Sites As Demand Continues To Outpace Supply
TIMONIUM, Md. (WJZ) -- Gov. Larry Hogan visited two COVID-19 vaccination sites in Maryland on Monday.
Hogan toured the Timonium Fairgrounds COVID-19 vaccination site with Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski first followed by a tour of the Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital.
In a tweet following his visits, Hogan said the fairgrounds will administer second doses of the COVID vaccine to 2,000 Marylanders Monday.
This morning, I had the opportunity to tour two #COVID19 vaccination sites. Here at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, vaccinators will administer second doses to approximately 2,000 Marylanders today. #GoVAXMaryland pic.twitter.com/CEk1nBr08W
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) February 8, 2021
Baltimore County has vaccinated more than 86,000 people, the most of any jurisdiction in the state.
While the infrastructure is ready to go, there isn't enough vaccine to fully put the sites to work. The Baltimore Convention Center has the capacity to vaccinate 1,500 people per day, but on Monday they were set to handle just 400 vaccinations.
Only 646,000 of Maryland's six million residents have gotten a first dose of the vaccine. Hogan said his office is in constant contact with the White House.
"We talk to the Biden administration nearly every single day asking that same question. I know that they're working, pressing the two manufacturers and trying to figure out everything that they can to increase production," Hogan said.
The race to get Americans the shot is also a race against a rapidly-evolving virus. Health officials want to vaccinate as many people as possible before COVID-19 mutates into more dangerous variants that could be more resistant to vaccines.
"We hope to ramp up very quickly to provide a vaccine for everyone in the state of Maryland who wants one, and if you don't want (one), we hope to convince you that you do," said Dr. Chuck Callahan with the University of Maryland Medical System.
Hogan also visited Emergent BioSolutions' Baltimore facility where the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine candidate is being manufactured. The company is currently asking the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for the vaccine.
"(It's a) really exciting development, the fact that we're very close to emergency use authorizations for a couple of additional vaccine candidates that we might be manufacturing right here in the state of Maryland, that's very hopeful," he said.
The 300 workers at the facility got vaccinated themselves and Hogan thanked them for their crucial efforts as the state and country wait for more doses to become available.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.