Dr. Maria Maguire, acting health officer for Talbot County, says the Talbot County Health Department is ready to move to Phase 1B on Jan. 18 following Gov. Larry Hogan’s announcement on Thursday that he was accelerating Maryland’s COVID-19 vaccination plan.
Phase 1B includes group homes and other congregate care facilities, continuity of government officials, high-risk incarcerated adults, people over 75 years old, and K-12 school staff. Healthcare workers and first responders were in Phase 1A.
Counties are allocated vaccines based on general population size, meaning counties may complete phases at different paces based on the demographics of their specific population.
Other counties may be in different phases than Talbot County due to having fewer individuals eligible for 1A and 1B in their population.
Many healthcare providers and seniors live and work in Talbot County, making the county’s 1A and 1B categories much larger than some of our surrounding counties.
“I am excited to hear the governor’s announcement about the state moving into Phase 1B, as Talbot is ready to do so next week,” Dr. Maguire says. “We have been limited only by the supply we’ve received.”
Talbot County residents 75 years of age and older must pre-register for their COVID-19 vaccinations on the Talbot County Health Department website at bit.ly/talbot-75. TCHD staff will then respond to individuals confirming receipt of the pre-registration and, when vaccine is available, instructions on how to register for a vaccine clinic.
TCHD also plans to set up a call center for residents to schedule vaccinations with updates announced through social media, on the TCHD and talbotcovid19.org webpages, and through public service announcements.
County Manager Clay Stamp is delighted that Talbot County’s vaccination plan is working effectively and that healthcare professionals now have a weapon against the COVID-19 virus. Talbot County is utilizing all available resources in order to distribute the vaccine as quickly and effective as possible. The Maryland National Guard was able to assist at the most recent vaccine clinic for healthcare providers.
“The vaccine is an offensive tool we can use to help bend the curve of the pandemic,” Stamp says. “This is a significant part of a broader operation to bring together the community through coordination with our emergency operations center team to support the health department, business community, and people of Talbot County.”
As of Tues., Jan. 12, TCHD had received 1,700 Moderna vaccinations. The health department requests vaccinations each week, and has been receiving on average 500 vaccinations per week. TCHD has administered 1,132 vaccinations to date.
For more information about Talbot County’s vaccination plan, visit TalbotCovid19.org.
Where to Find More Information:
CDC COVID-2019 Website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Talbot County COVID-19 Information: www.talbotcovid19.org
Shore Regional Health COVID Information: https://www.umms.org/shore/patients-
visitors/coronavirus
Maryland Department of Health Website: https://health.maryland.gov/pages/home.aspx
Talbot County Health Department Website: https://health.maryland.gov/talbotcounty/Pages/home.aspx
Maryland COVID-19 Website: https://governor.maryland.gov/coronavirus
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