VACCINE AVAILABILITY
Over 20,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Washington County, but there we still have a long way to go. Washington County has been informed that the anticipated allotment of the vaccine has been drastically reduced this week. This directly impacts the number of vaccines available to offer. The demand for vaccines across the state continues to be far greater than the supply. Adults ages 65 and older continue to be the priority for receiving vaccination appointment slots as they become available.
Currently, the waitlist for this group in Washington County is approximately 20,000 people.
Vaccine appointments are only scheduled once supplies are received from the state of Maryland to avoid having cancellations. If you are among the thousands who are still on the call list to be scheduled, this limited vaccine supply will now mean an even greater wait for you. Please note: If you have already received the first dose of the vaccine, you will still be able to receive your second dose as scheduled.
The Washington County Health Department has the following updates on Nursing homes, assisted living, independent living, and congregate living facilities:
Through federal contracts, CVS and Walgreens have completed vaccination clinics at nursing homes across the state and have begun scheduling vaccination clinics for assisted living and congregate living facilities.
In an effort to assist in vaccinating these vulnerable populations quickly, the Washington County Health Department has been working with the Maryland Department of Health to provide vaccination clinics to certain congregate living facilities in Washington County, MD.
The Washington County Health Department has held several vaccination clinics for local congregate living facilities. As of today February 10, 2021, the Health Department has held clinics for the following facilities:
- Potomac Towers
- Walnut Towers
- The Arc of Washington County
- Human Development Council
- United Community Connections
- Way Station Inc.
- CW Brooks
- Star Community
If you are a current resident or staff at a congregate facility, please reach out to your facility’s management for more information on vaccination clinics and how to schedule your appointment. As weekly allocations of the vaccine are received, the health department is working to schedule more congregate living facilities.
The Washington County Health Department is also working with the Washington County Commission on Aging under the direction of the Maryland Department of Health to identify independent living facilities in Washington County and will be working to schedule vaccination clinics at these facilities.
Educators
Under the direction of the Maryland Department of Health, local health departments must reserve 100 doses of their weekly vaccine allocations to vaccinate private and public school educators and daycare providers. Meritus Health is currently using a portion of its vaccine allocation to vaccinate public school staff. The health department has started to vaccinate non-public school employees. The health department can only schedule 100 appointments per week for this priority group, as seniors and those living in congregate living facilities are the priority. It will take several weeks to schedule all private school and childcare staff. If your facility has not been contacted yet, please be patient, as vaccine availability is still very limited. In the meantime, management should gather a list of employees who are interested in receiving the vaccine, so that when they are contacted by the health department there will be an accurate count of those needing appointments, which will help streamline the process.
