BALTIMORE — Millions of doses of the first vaccine that prevents COVID-19 are being shipped across the country, including to Maryland.
On Friday, the FDA authorized the emergency use of Pfizer’s vaccine, so shipments began leaving the company’s facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan
over the weekend.
About 50,000 doses will be coming to Maryland and into the arms of healthcare workers and officials at the University of Maryland Medical Center want to be ready for when those vaccines arrive, which could be as early as Monday.
A spokesperson for the medical center says once the vaccine arrives here in Maryland they will begin to vaccinate health care workers across the University of Maryland Medical System’s 13 hospitals.
Governor Hogan says health care workers, first responders and staff and residents at long-term care facilities will receive the vaccine first, so the general population likely won’t get the vaccine until the spring 2021.
Recent surveys show about a third of Americans say they won’t get vaccinated, but the head of the FDA says work needs to be done to change that mindset.
100,000 doses of Moderna’s vaccine will be coming to Maryland, once it gets the go-ahead from the FDA. The agency is scheduled to have a hearing about whether to approve its emergency authorization use on Thursday.
