UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks believes it will be months before enough residents receive a COVID-19 vaccine as the county's daily case rate reaches a critical level.
In the meantime, Alsobrooks is urging residents to continue to adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines to stop the spread of the virus until their time comes.
The county health department has received 3,700 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine and has started vaccinating their vaccinators, support staff, health department workers, critical emergency staff, and Fire and EMS workers.
In accordance with the state of Maryland, the county is rolling out vaccines for people in Group 1A, which includes hospital frontline workers, residents and staff members of assisted living facilities, home healthcare workers and other healthcare employees.
Those who are eligible for the first round of vaccines should have received an email or letter in the mail to register for the vaccine on the county's website. Healthcare workers who fall under the Group 1A criteria can also fill out a form on the county's website to be vaccinated. Once approved, they will be contacted.
The county is seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases since the holidays and reports that cases have tripled in the last two months, officials said.
According to county health officials, hospitals have doubled their ICU capacity to assist with the increasing number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. They also said that they will continue to monitor the effects of the holidays on the county's infection rate as they expect it to increase.
"We are unfortunately in the midst of a surge," Alsobrooks said during a news conference on Wednesday.
Alsobrooks said the county is limited by the number of vaccination staff they have. She said they have experienced initial delays and are working to get additional staff and volunteers to help out. Maryland National Guard has been deployed to the county and arrives Thursday to assist with mass vaccinations. The county is also working on opening three sites for vaccinations.
When the time comes for the majority of county residents to take a vaccination, Alsobrooks said despite skepticism she believes these vaccines are safe and effective and they do prevent COVID-19.
"I received the first dose of the covid-19 vaccine I had no side effects except for soreness on the site," Alsobrooks said.
Here's a layout of the county's vaccination distribution plan:
Group 1B: Adults over 75 years old and essential workers with high-risk of exposure, child care workers, workers in the education sector, teachers, government leadership, and doctors and primary care physicians.
Estimated time frame -- Some time in February (may take more months to complete this phase, officials said.)
Group 1C: Adults 65 to 74 years old, public safety and health personnel not covered in Group 1A, essential workers (grocery stores, public transit, postal workers.)
Estimated time frame -- Unknown
Group 2: People ages 16 to 65 years old.
Estimated time frame -- April
The county projects that by next Fall they will be able to discuss herd immunity.
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For more information, resources and updates on the county's vaccine distribution plan, click here.