Baltimore Health Officials Pushing For Increase In Covid-19 Vaccinations
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Maryland's Covid-19 positivity rate now sits at 1.04 percent and hospitalizations along with deaths are down. But as the positivity rate continues to decline, Baltimore City officials said they want to see the number of vaccinations go up.
"We want to by February of 2022 equitably vaccinate 80 percent of our Baltimore city residents," said Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, with the Baltimore City Health Department
During a virtual event, Mayor Brandon Scott and the City's Health Department along with local partners discussed the need for more vaccinations in the city.
As of right now, 55 percent of Baltimore City residents over 18 are fully vaccinated and only 51 percent of residents have received their first dose.
Mayor Brandon Scott said he wants to see that number skyrocket.
"One hundred percent of people dying from covid-19 right now in our state are unvaccinated. That tells us something. That we have the power in our hands and now we have the accessibility in our hands to end covid19 and save lives," said Mayor Scott.
For the past several months, the city has been working with several organizations including the Rockefeller Foundation to bring pop-up and mobile vaccination clinics to areas with low vaccination rates -- and it seems to be working.
In Baltimore, the positivity rate sits at 0.3 percent, down 43 percent compared to last month with an average of only seven cases per day.
"As a result of vaccinations, we have seen this number come down significantly so that as of yesterday there were only 45 patients hospitalized in Baltimore City because of covid," said Dr. Dzirasa.
As numbers continue to drop, Mayor Scott said its important sleeves continue to roll up. "This is a safe thing to get and it is also the right thing to do," he said.
Health experts said a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine is 88 percent effective against the Delta Variant.
Officials said they've been using zip codes to determine the area with the lowest vaccination rates so they know where to target their efforts.
