ANNAPOLIS, Md. — With more vaccines expected to soon be available, all Maryland residents age 16 and older can now preregister for an appointment.
Beginning tomorrow, the Eastern Shore mass vaccination site in Salisbury will allow walk-ups for any eligible Maryland resident.
Governor Larry Hogan says plans are underway to add additional walk-up sites.
The news comes as more state mass vaccination sites are getting set to open.
Next week, the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium will transition into one. Frederick Community College and Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Anne Arundel County will follow the week of April 12.
Ripken Stadium in Harford County will open the week of April 19, followed by the Mall in Columbia in Howard County, the week of April 26.
Harford County Executive Barry Glassman applauded the decision to bring a site to Aberdeen.
“I would like to thank Gov. Hogan for honoring our request for a mass vaccination site at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen. With its access to major transportation routes, this site will help us in the race to get vaccines to everyone in Harford County and the region," said Glassman.
Governor Hogan and Howard County Executive Calvin Ball also announced a mass vaccination site will open the week of April 26th at the Mall in Columbia.
Additionally, FEMA is opening a site on April 7 in Prince George’s County at the Greenbelt Metro Station.
On Thursday the first federal mobile vaccination units in the nation arrived at the Maryland Emergency Management headquarters. They will be tasked with vaccinating residents in remote areas and zip codes that rank high in vulnerability.
The state is requiring all county health departments to submit finalized equity plans by April 5. The state health department will also provide each county with a targeted list of under served zip codes and specific congregate facilities to focus on.
With that, Hogan said plans are underway to reopen senior centers by the end of the month.
There are still some concerns with the rise of new COVID-19 cases over the last several days.
The state has identified 677 cases of variants primarily in Baltimore City and Baltimore County -- 86 percent of which are from the United Kingdom in Europe.
During a Thursday news conference, Baltimore Health Commissioner Letitia Dzirasa said the city is averaging 29 cases per 100,000 residents over the last week, which is a higher rate than both the state of Maryland and the United States as a whole.
Overall -- 1,005,207 people in the state have been fully vaccinated which is about 16.5 percent of the state's population. Currently 1,013 Maryland residents are hospitalized, 236 of which are in an Intensive Care Unit.
