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Around Maryland

‘It’s put the future on hold’: A year of shutdown has changed how we work, play and navigate a pandemic-altered world

Shortly after the shutdown began, her daughter hosted a friend for a sleepover — via a video call on her iPad, which she rested on a pillow next to her own head. As the months passed, one of her sons began starting the school day with a blanket over his head, unable to face yet another day in front of his computer. “I feel like we lost a year of our lives,” said Jenn Ambrosiano-Reedholm, a mother of three in Cockeysville. “And it feels extra-long.” It was March 12 last year that Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered public schools to close in four days, just the start of a shutdown that would also shutter bars, restaurants, movie theaters, malls, houses of worship and other gathering places to help curtail the spread of the then-now coronavirus.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
State, Contractor to Choose Among Three Suitors for Purple Line Construction Work

After losing its prime subcontractor in a dispute over cost-overruns, the consortium building the Purple Line is one step closer to finding a replacement. Five construction companies expressed interest in picking up where Purple Line Transit Constructors left off when it quit the light rail project in September. Purple Line Transit Partners, the Riverdale-based consortium responsible for the project, has deemed three of them qualified to submit a formal bid.

One year on the front lines: How COVID has changed hospital operations and tested the system

Leslie Simmons of LifeBridge Health joins Bob Atlas of the Maryland Hospital Association to discuss ways every local hospital has adjusted during the pandemic.

Your Maryland COVID vaccine questions answered: Can I schedule both appointments at the same time? Can I register on-site?

Maryland is administering more doses of coronavirus vaccine per week than it has at any point since the disease-preventing inoculations first became available in December. Better yet, more appear to be on the way, with 50,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson’s recently approved vaccine being allocated in Maryland this week. Maryland has administered about 37,000 doses a day over the past week.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Free health care job training connects Prince George’s Co. job seekers with employers

A jobs program in Prince George’s County, Maryland, is offering free health care training and connecting job seekers with future employers. “Employ Prince George’s is the bridge between job seekers and businesses,” said Walter Simmons, the organization’s president and CEO. One of the initiatives under the organization’s COVID-19 Workforce Development Recovery Program is providing county job seekers with free virtual training and support to become a certified medical assistant.

Read More: WTOP
Medical workers on the frontline at GBMC and MedStar Health discuss a year of pandemic life for patients and caregivers

Whether you’re a patient with routine medical needs or a mom having a baby, the past year of battling COVID has created complexity and anxiety at local hospitals for everyone.

Covid-19 Vaccine Bottle Mockup (does not depict actual vaccine).
At a Baltimore senior complex, a COVID vaccine clinic imbues sense of relief amid discussions of racial gap

In the 1960s and ’70s, they called him “Dancing Harry.” A fixture at Baltimore Bullets and then New York Knicks basketball games, Edward Marvin Cooper was a fan well-known for his moves, his costumes and the hexes he cast on whatever opponents dared set foot in the Baltimore Civic Center or Madison Square Garden.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Covid-19 Vaccine Bottle Mockup (does not depict actual vaccine).
Advocates working to get COVID-19 vaccine to Baltimore’s hard-hit Latino community

With the pandemic hitting Baltimore’s Latino community harder than almost any other group, advocates and health care providers are pushing on many fronts to make sure these residents get the COVID-19 vaccine. Health officials have sent a sound truck onto the streets of Latino neighborhoods in Southeast Baltimore to blast vaccine messages and dispel myths. Leaders are hiring outreach workers to talk to citizens in high-traffic spots like bus stops and grocery stores, and they are advocating for community hubs to be vaccination sites.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Maryland sending far more COVID vaccine to Six Flags in Prince George’s County than to Baltimore site

Maryland officials have been allocating most COVID-19 vaccine doses designated for the state’s two mass vaccination sites to Six Flags America in Prince George’s County rather than the Baltimore Convention Center, the state health department confirmed Tuesday. The two sites together receive about 16,000 of Maryland’s 88,000 total doses a week. About 2,000 people have been getting vaccinated each day at the Bowie amusement park, while about 400 people have been rolling up their sleeves daily at the convention center, according to Maryland Department of Health spokesman Charles Gischlar.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Some seniors frustrated with new Md. vaccine appointment call center

Getting a vaccine appointment in Maryland is not an easy task for some seniors. While the state opened a new vaccine appointment call center to create greater access, whether callers get through on the phone seems entirely up to chance. Aimed at seniors who don’t have internet access, Maryland’s new vaccination support center is staffed seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The call center number is 1-855-MD-GO-VAX, which is 1-855-634-6829.

Read More: WTOP

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