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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
As many Maryland school districts prepare to return to classrooms for the first time in nearly a year, local teachers unions are staring down a deadline with a decision: How hard should they push back against reopening plans they believe put their health and lives in danger? Since the summer, the unions have demanded a list of safety and health conditions are met before they return to in-person teaching.
As many Maryland school districts prepare to return to classrooms for the first time in nearly a year, local teachers unions are staring down a deadline with a decision: How hard should they push back against reopening plans they believe put their health and lives in danger? Since the summer, the unions have demanded a list of safety and health conditions are met before they return to in-person teaching.
Anne Arundel County Public Schools told teachers and school staff Feb. 2 that they must return to school buildings Feb. 17, and work from there four days a week, with Wednesday at home and online so schools can be cleaned. Baltimore City will delay expanding its school reopening by two weeks, giving the school system more time to prepare for the arrival of kindergarten through second graders. Baltimore County public school officials are preparing to bring students back to school buildings for the first time in nearly a year, with employees expected to return to buildings by Feb. 16, followed by students March 1.
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