February 5, 2021 – Due to a lack of supply, Baltimore City’s sole vaccination site is offering vaccines only to those who already received their first dose. The city’s site inoculated just 250 people with second doses Wednesday.
While more vaccines are expected to become available in the coming weeks and months as supply increases, getting a shot has been a challenge for many, especially older adults, who are most at risk, and those without computers or digital fluency, the Boston Sun reports.
The intense demand for the 10,000 doses Maryland receives each day has prompted some people who are eligible to share appointment-scheduling links with friends, family and colleagues who are not, said Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, Baltimore’s health commissioner. That has caused appointments to be overbooked. As many as 25% of the city’s appointments scheduled for this month were mistakenly filled by people attempting to get a first dose, Dzirasa said.
Maryland’s vaccine appointment software, PrepMod, has added to the confusion by sending an automated email reminder to those who schedule appointments — even after the city health department informed them they were not eligible yet, Dzirasa said.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott called on the state Tuesday to expand access to COVID-19 vaccinations for people who live and work in the city, while the Democratic members of Maryland’s congressional delegation asked Republican Gov. Larry Hogan to improve vaccine rollout statewide.
The state is urging providers to conserve second doses to ensure people get fully vaccinated, said Dennis R. Schrader, Maryland’s acting health secretary, during a virtual state House of Delegates committee hearing Tuesday.