WASHINGTON — More than one million Americans have received a coronavirus vaccine, according to a tally from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC tally also said that more than 9 million vaccinations have been shipped across the country.
Here locally, Maryland has said it expects to get around 100,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and Virginia has ordered 146,400 doses of the vaccine. On Monday, Dr. Ankoor Shah, interim principal deputy director of DC Health, said the said was expecting to get 12,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 4,700 more doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week.
D.C. health care workers began receiving vaccinations at new immunization clinics set up at Giant Pharmacies on Saturday.
Giant Foods isn't the only large retailer helping to distribute vaccines. On Wednesday, CVS pharmacy teams began bringing the Moderna vaccine into 1,775 Maryland nursing homes and long-term care facilities and administering the inoculations to at least 107,000 residents and staff.
CVS pharmacist Dr. Yoandree Pierre-Jacques told WUSA9 the responsibility of getting the vaccine to the most vulnerable people is humbling.
“We are definitely part of history," Pierre-Jacques said.
In hard-hit Montgomery County, vaccine doses began arriving Wednesday.
Once more doses are available, the county says it will be following the vaccine priority designations outlined by Gov. Larry Hogan:
- 1A: Frontline health care workers, staff and residents of nursing homes, and first responders
- 1B: Essential workers and residents over the age of 75
- 1C: Individuals over the age of 65
In Virginia, The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) says all 72,150 initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be distributed directly to geographically diverse health care systems with ultracold storage capacity, and will go to health care providers. Health care personnel that directly care for COVID-19 patients will receive top priority among health care providers.
VDH said in its initial plan that following the first shipment of doses, subsequent shipments would be divided between health care workers and nursing home residents, also with the help of CVS pharmacy teams.
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Meanwhile coronavirus case numbers continue to climb in DC, Maryland and Virginia.
According to data released Saturday, D.C. health officials reported 274 new cases of coronavirus and six deaths. In Maryland, 4,712 new cases were reported, and Virginia reported 5,662 new cases.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, told WUSA9 in an interview before Christmas that the holiday may lead to another surge in cases similar to what was seen over Thanksgiving.
"It's certainly possible. It depends upon how seriously people take this issue of concern about just, you know, having Christmas this year be a little bit different than you had in previous years, so that you'll have many more Christmases to come in a healthy situation," Fauci said.
Fauci said he hopes to see younger, healthier people receiving the vaccines in March or April of 2021.