December 1, 2021
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Good afternoon. Joining me once again today are Secretary Dennis Schrader and Deputy Secretary Jinlene Chan.
Last week the World Health Organization designated the B11529 variant or the Omicron variant, which is the latest strain of COVID 19 as a variant of concern, and the WHO issued a warning Monday that Omicron poses a high risk of infection surges across the globe. We immediately held an emergency meeting of our COVID 19 response team and we have been constantly monitoring all available information. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but here is what we know right now.
The Omicron variant has spread rapidly across South Africa in recent weeks, leading to an alarming rise in new cases of the virus. It now has been identified in more than two dozen countries, and just moments ago the CDC confirmed the first U.S. case in California, in an individual who returned from South Africa. Health officials are warning that Omicron could be more transmissible than previous strains of COVID 19 and that it may pose a greater risk of reinfection. Just yesterday the World Health Organization advised people over the age of 60 with underlying health conditions to refrain from any international travel. According to public health experts, it could still be several weeks before they have enough critical data to determine if the Omicron variant causes more severe illness than earlier strains or whether the current COVID 19 vaccine treatments are effective against it.
In the state of Maryland, as we have throughout this pandemic, we continue to hope for the best while actively preparing for the worst. When it comes to the Omicron variant, I want to reassure Marylanders, that our entire team is continuing to very closely monitor the situation. We’re taking nothing for granted. We’re taking every precaution, and preparing to mobilize all available resources. Because our highest priority is to continue keeping Marylanders safe. The Maryland Public Health Laboratory has been testing for coronavirus variants at a much higher rate than the nation and most other states by using genomic sequencing to track the various mutations of the virus, including the UK, Brazilian, delta, and many other variants. Earlier this year, in order to expand this screening capability, the state entered into an agreement with both Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland to more than double our already aggressive real-time variant surveillance. Maryland has one of the strongest variant surveillance systems in America and now we’re sequencing at nearly three times to level recommended by public health experts. If Omicron does come to Maryland, we will find it and track it down. We have already begun taking additional steps to further increase surveillance. Earlier today the Maryland Board of Public Works approved an emergency procurement to acquire additional special supplies to further expand capacity to track and detect variants of COVID 19.
The Board of Public Works also extended our sequencing agreement with both effective University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins, and we also are encouraging all of our lab partners to immediately ramp up their surveillance efforts.
The way we can test the variant is through more people getting tested. Getting tested remains one of the most important things that you can do to protect yourself, your family, and your fellow Marylanders. If you’re feeling sick and think you’re coming down with something, get a test. If you’re about to travel somewhere or returning back home, get a test. It’s simple and effective. PCR testing remains widely available at hundreds of locations all across the state, and we recently surpassed 15 million tests conducted here in Maryland. You can find the locations nearest you by visiting COVIDtest.Maryland.gov.
In addition we have taken steps to make more antigen rapid testing available. Rapid tests, the results are available in as little as 15 minutes. But with national supply chain issues and increased demand, they were becoming increasingly difficult to find. The last week I announced that we’re distributing another half a million Abbott Binax rapid tests across the state. And these tests are available at multiple locations, such as local health departments, libraries and community centers. As a further step to address the potential impact of the Omicron variant, the Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland Department of Transportation will immediately make rapid tests available at the international terminal at BWI airport where the nearly 7,000 international passengers who arrive each week, and we are making guidance available to travelers in multiple languages. We also want to remind Marylanders of the new urgent care center, which is now open at BWI which offers both COVID testing, vaccines and boosters to any travelers.
While there are still a great deal of unknowns about the Omicron variant, our state will not wait to launch our preparedness efforts, and Marylanders shouldn’t wait either. We’re beginning to see the anticipated seasonal uptick in some of our key health measures, including our positivity rate, which has now increased to more than 5%. Our primary mission remains protecting the vulnerable and preventing hospitalizations and deaths. And the most important thing that you can do right now to maintain immunity, to protect yourself and your family from severe illness is to get vaccinated. Thanks to the millions of Marylanders who have rolled up their sleeves. Maryland continues to be one of the most vaccinated states in America. We have now administered nearly 9.4 million COVID 19 vaccines. 99.9% of Marylanders 65 and older have been vaccinated. 88.9% of all adults, all Marylanders 18 and over, have been vaccinated. And we’ve vaccinated nearly 118,000 five to 11 year olds, which puts us in the category of one of the very best in the nation.
Vaccines are safe, they are effective, and our team is working around the clock to get that last less than 1/10 of 1% of our remaining, and the remaining 11.1% of remaining adults in Maryland vaccinated. And to continue getting more of our school age children vaccinated.
If you’re already vaccinated, the single most important thing that you can do to maintain your immunity against the virus and variants is to get your booster shot. As of today the state of Maryland has administered more than 1 million booster shots, and we continue to have both the supply and the capacity to provide boosters to anyone who needs or wants one. After weeks of the federal government only allowing certain categories of people to get their booster shot, we cut through all of that confusion and made all Marylanders age 18 and older eligible for a booster. State health officials are strongly encouraging all eligible Marylanders to get a booster shot as soon as possible. The vaccines have been proven to be extremely effective, but the data does show waning immunity after six months or so. So even if you have received two shots, you are not fully vaccinated or immune or protected. If it has been six months or more from your second dose, if you’re 18 or older and completed your initial series of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines on or before June 1st, please get a booster shot as soon as possible. If you’re 18 or older and received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on or before October 1st, please get a booster shot as soon as possible. To get a booster shot in the next ten days to be fully protected by Christmas. While many are understandably concerned about the Omicron variant, I urge Marylanders not to panic. This is not the first variant we have seen and it almost certainly is not going to be the last. But throughout this entire year we have repeatedly stressed that we are in a race between the vaccines and the variants. Because we’re one of the most highly vaccinated states, we have been able to stay ahead of the virus, but we cannot become complacent and we do need to remain vigilant. I’m urging all Marylanders to be smart, be safe, and to use commonsense. And in Maryland we have been able to lead throughout this entire crisis by listening to the experts and by following the science, and that’s exactly what we will continue to do. While I do not believe in blanket mandates, I do believe in personal responsibility, and getting vaccinated or getting your booster shot is absolutely the best way to protect yourself, your family, and your fellow Marylanders this holiday season. And it’s the best way to keep us Maryland Strong. With that I would be happy to take a few questions.
[ Speaker off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Maybe I’ll let Dr. Chan, see if she has an answer to that one. All of our experts were saying they didn’t have enough data coming in nearly every day, but it’s going to take time for the experts to figure it out.
DR. CHAN: Thank you, Governor.
So still a couple more weeks, because really with this particular variant that was identified, the Omicron variant, it was identified and named a variant of concern very rapidly. And so there’s still a lot of unknowns. So what they’re doing now, this is across the globe, is actually doing some of the laboratory studies to look at the antibodies, and some tests are happening now and will give a better understanding of what impact this variant might be able to have. Other information in terms of severity of disease, we are looking closely at what is happening in South Africa, for example, because that has the most number of identify cases with the Omicron variant. We’ll learn more certainly in the next couple weeks, but some information may still be even after that.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
DR. CHAN: Yes, what we know so far about variant in our lab, the director has been in close contact with the FDA as well as the Association of Public Health Laboratories, they know FDA in particular knows exactly each test they have approved can detect. And right now there’s no reason to doubt that any of the assays being viewed is not able to detect the variant. And so if someone has a variant and is sick with it, they should be tested.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
DR. CHAN: So, you know, I think that since early this year we have rolled out the vaccination campaign as we have seen the Alpha variant and the Beta variant, the Delta variant. You know, the changes in the virus itself is expected, and really the mutations have been happening since March 2020. And so the Omicron variant is not something unexpected, and we here in Maryland are prepared to deal with it, as the Governor indicated and we’re taking additional measures to protect our residents here in the state, and so we are concerned about this as our public health officials around the country and around the world, which is why we’re taking these actions, but there are things that people can do, and I can’t emphasize this enough, that vaccination remains our most important tool to protect ourselves and our families against COVID 19. And if you are eligible, six month after your primary series, Pfizer, Moderna, or two months after your Johnson and Johnson, getting a booster will help maintain immunity and protection against Omicron or other variants. We believe that is still the most important tool.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
DR. CHAN: So there can be a delay at times because, you know, genomic sequencing requires positive PCR. That sample is collected, and depending on the lab that did the test in the first place, we work as closely as possible with them to try to transfer the samples to our state lab or one of our contracted labs for that detailed sequencing work. And so that can take a little bit of time. So, you know, that’s where some of the work that we’re doing to, you know, ramp up our capacity, you know, our hospital partner at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins, their sequencing capacity, they are sequencing every single positive they get in the normal channels, for example. In terms of some of the changes that we have made, with this particular variant, the Omicron variant, there is something people may have heard of called the F gene dropout. And it’s a really specific characteristic of a particular PCR test that is very commonly used, and so the pattern is something that we can see if the lab uses that particular test. Our state public health lab, for example, uses it. So they have shifted to using more of it to be able to detect that particular pattern earlier and prioritize those cases for contact tracing, as well as…
[ speaker is off microphone ]
DR. CHAN: No.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
SPEAKER: I haven’t been following it. I don’t know the current. I don’t know that any actions will be taken. Obviously some of the things that we’re going to be discovering over the next few weeks may be important, but I don’t think we need to change the policy at this point, but there’s a board makes decisions and I haven’t heard what they’re doing today.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: That’s a great question. We know of we’re hosting right now a National Governors Association here in Annapolis today on infrastructure and talking with my fellow governors who we had a call yesterday. I think Dr. Chan and our team are reaching out to counterparts and federal agencies. We haven’t had it from the White House, which is concerning. I understand the president will make comments tomorrow but hasn’t given us a heads up. We’re working closely with county health officers. At this point we don’t have enough information to pass on. We’re sharing everything we know with you and with our local leaders, and the White House doesn’t know enough to update.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I sure hope not. I mean, we are not intending to return to any of those measures here in the state of Maryland. I can’t imagine that would be something that the vast majority of the public after 21 months is somewhat fatigued by some of the measures that have been taken in the early part of this. But, again, we don’t know what we’re going to find out in the next couple weeks. Right now we’re trying to do everything we can in the potential situation. We can find out in the next two weeks there is not cause, but people are vaccinated and the vaccine works, and it’s not a problem at all. I don’t think we need to be in a rush. There’s a lot of questions. I wanted to share with everyone what we know. We don’t know a lot.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: You know, you guys are from the very beginning. You need to get vaccinated and a booster and you should get tested. But we don’t want to…
People still are needing to travel. Just be safe. Get tested when you go and when you come back. If you’re sick, don’t be around loved ones. Right now I tell anybody not to panic or change plans, but we have been advising to be safe.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: It really is again, I talked about personal responsibility, and I think people should do what they feel comfortable with. At this point I don’t think we need mandates regarding that. But certainly if people are in a crowd and they don’t know all the people or whether they’re tested or vaccinated, then potential cases of Delta and perhaps other variants are out there, you know, people aren’t to take commonsense measures to do the right thing whatever they feel is best for them and their family.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I had a very productive meeting with the president this morning in my office and we talked about a number of issues. She talked about the upcoming special session, my desire for them to take up our emergency crime bill. We talked about our joint concern over the lack of data coming from the state attorney’s office, concern about the out of control violent crime in Baltimore City. We talked about redistricting. We have somewhat of a difference of opinion on that, we’re going to talk further. But the important things that are going to get done, sure, they’re going to work on commonsense details, but most people in Maryland agree with me on and I tried to explain it would be making a mistake to go against the overwhelming will of the voters. But I think, you know, on redistricting, they’re continuing to do some of the work gerrymandering the country and trying to convince them it does not make sense and they should follow the redistricting.
But we’re having dialogue and open and honest free flowing discussion. I’m not sure we have arrived at any grand bargains or compromises.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Yes, I mean, he didn’t give me any indication that they were going to overwhelmingly pass the bill, but he did commit to turning it up for a vote, which is in the past a lot of stuff has been stuck in a drawer and never acted on, but they will introduce it and they will have a hearing on both bills.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I think we… you know, I stressed trying to get this done soon. We actually passed some of these bills, as he pointed out today, the problem was really more with the House than the Senate. He expressed some reservation about the ability to get it done in special session, but I understood he thought it was important and not to delay. And if it doesn’t get passed in special session we’re coming back in January. And he’s just as concerned about crime in Baltimore City as I am. And two years ago, data we still haven’t gotten, so we’re in complete agreement on that.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I mentioned that in my remarks. Maybe I’ll let the secretary come in here and say. Our efforts, major part of our efforts is convincing people. We’ve gotten most people vaccinated. 1/10th of seniors left. It’s fantastic. But we only have had a million a million boosters is a lot. But it’s not enough. And people have this kind of false sense of security, well, I got my two shots back last spring. It’s only about 50% effective now. If you really want to be safe while traveling and being with family, get the booster. It’s easy. You can get it anywhere. And then maybe Dennis will talk about it. It makes you five times more immunity when you get the booster than when you’re declining immunity from a long time ago.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I made this very clear. Every single person 18 and over should get boosters. And if it’s J and J, get it immediately. If it’s Pfizer or Moderna and six months, do it immediately there’s no confusion.
Thank you.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, I mean, making progress, I mean, we put a tremendous amount of influence and pressure to get it done. It was crazy. The legislation said they wanted to do this and then dragged their feet a couple months. So the goal was to get it done before playoff season. But I’m not sure I don’t know exactly the timing of when the Commission is going to get their work done, but I think you should be able to…
[ Laughter ]
Thank you.
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Good afternoon. Joining me once again today are Secretary Dennis Schrader and Deputy Secretary Jinlene Chan.
Last week the World Health Organization designated the B11529 variant or the Omicron variant, which is the latest strain of COVID 19 as a variant of concern, and the WHO issued a warning Monday that Omicron poses a high risk of infection surges across the globe. We immediately held an emergency meeting of our COVID 19 response team and we have been constantly monitoring all available information. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but here is what we know right now.
The Omicron variant has spread rapidly across South Africa in recent weeks, leading to an alarming rise in new cases of the virus. It now has been identified in more than two dozen countries, and just moments ago the CDC confirmed the first U.S. case in California, in an individual who returned from South Africa. Health officials are warning that Omicron could be more transmissible than previous strains of COVID 19 and that it may pose a greater risk of reinfection. Just yesterday the World Health Organization advised people over the age of 60 with underlying health conditions to refrain from any international travel. According to public health experts, it could still be several weeks before they have enough critical data to determine if the Omicron variant causes more severe illness than earlier strains or whether the current COVID 19 vaccine treatments are effective against it.
In the state of Maryland, as we have throughout this pandemic, we continue to hope for the best while actively preparing for the worst. When it comes to the Omicron variant, I want to reassure Marylanders, that our entire team is continuing to very closely monitor the situation. We’re taking nothing for granted. We’re taking every precaution, and preparing to mobilize all available resources. Because our highest priority is to continue keeping Marylanders safe. The Maryland Public Health Laboratory has been testing for coronavirus variants at a much higher rate than the nation and most other states by using genomic sequencing to track the various mutations of the virus, including the UK, Brazilian, delta, and many other variants. Earlier this year, in order to expand this screening capability, the state entered into an agreement with both Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland to more than double our already aggressive real-time variant surveillance. Maryland has one of the strongest variant surveillance systems in America and now we’re sequencing at nearly three times to level recommended by public health experts. If Omicron does come to Maryland, we will find it and track it down. We have already begun taking additional steps to further increase surveillance. Earlier today the Maryland Board of Public Works approved an emergency procurement to acquire additional special supplies to further expand capacity to track and detect variants of COVID 19.
The Board of Public Works also extended our sequencing agreement with both effective University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins, and we also are encouraging all of our lab partners to immediately ramp up their surveillance efforts.
The way we can test the variant is through more people getting tested. Getting tested remains one of the most important things that you can do to protect yourself, your family, and your fellow Marylanders. If you’re feeling sick and think you’re coming down with something, get a test. If you’re about to travel somewhere or returning back home, get a test. It’s simple and effective. PCR testing remains widely available at hundreds of locations all across the state, and we recently surpassed 15 million tests conducted here in Maryland. You can find the locations nearest you by visiting COVIDtest.Maryland.gov.
In addition we have taken steps to make more antigen rapid testing available. Rapid tests, the results are available in as little as 15 minutes. But with national supply chain issues and increased demand, they were becoming increasingly difficult to find. The last week I announced that we’re distributing another half a million Abbott Binax rapid tests across the state. And these tests are available at multiple locations, such as local health departments, libraries and community centers. As a further step to address the potential impact of the Omicron variant, the Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland Department of Transportation will immediately make rapid tests available at the international terminal at BWI airport where the nearly 7,000 international passengers who arrive each week, and we are making guidance available to travelers in multiple languages. We also want to remind Marylanders of the new urgent care center, which is now open at BWI which offers both COVID testing, vaccines and boosters to any travelers.
While there are still a great deal of unknowns about the Omicron variant, our state will not wait to launch our preparedness efforts, and Marylanders shouldn’t wait either. We’re beginning to see the anticipated seasonal uptick in some of our key health measures, including our positivity rate, which has now increased to more than 5%. Our primary mission remains protecting the vulnerable and preventing hospitalizations and deaths. And the most important thing that you can do right now to maintain immunity, to protect yourself and your family from severe illness is to get vaccinated. Thanks to the millions of Marylanders who have rolled up their sleeves. Maryland continues to be one of the most vaccinated states in America. We have now administered nearly 9.4 million COVID 19 vaccines. 99.9% of Marylanders 65 and older have been vaccinated. 88.9% of all adults, all Marylanders 18 and over, have been vaccinated. And we’ve vaccinated nearly 118,000 five to 11 year olds, which puts us in the category of one of the very best in the nation.
Vaccines are safe, they are effective, and our team is working around the clock to get that last less than 1/10 of 1% of our remaining, and the remaining 11.1% of remaining adults in Maryland vaccinated. And to continue getting more of our school age children vaccinated.
If you’re already vaccinated, the single most important thing that you can do to maintain your immunity against the virus and variants is to get your booster shot. As of today the state of Maryland has administered more than 1 million booster shots, and we continue to have both the supply and the capacity to provide boosters to anyone who needs or wants one. After weeks of the federal government only allowing certain categories of people to get their booster shot, we cut through all of that confusion and made all Marylanders age 18 and older eligible for a booster. State health officials are strongly encouraging all eligible Marylanders to get a booster shot as soon as possible. The vaccines have been proven to be extremely effective, but the data does show waning immunity after six months or so. So even if you have received two shots, you are not fully vaccinated or immune or protected. If it has been six months or more from your second dose, if you’re 18 or older and completed your initial series of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines on or before June 1st, please get a booster shot as soon as possible. If you’re 18 or older and received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on or before October 1st, please get a booster shot as soon as possible. To get a booster shot in the next ten days to be fully protected by Christmas. While many are understandably concerned about the Omicron variant, I urge Marylanders not to panic. This is not the first variant we have seen and it almost certainly is not going to be the last. But throughout this entire year we have repeatedly stressed that we are in a race between the vaccines and the variants. Because we’re one of the most highly vaccinated states, we have been able to stay ahead of the virus, but we cannot become complacent and we do need to remain vigilant. I’m urging all Marylanders to be smart, be safe, and to use commonsense. And in Maryland we have been able to lead throughout this entire crisis by listening to the experts and by following the science, and that’s exactly what we will continue to do. While I do not believe in blanket mandates, I do believe in personal responsibility, and getting vaccinated or getting your booster shot is absolutely the best way to protect yourself, your family, and your fellow Marylanders this holiday season. And it’s the best way to keep us Maryland Strong. With that I would be happy to take a few questions.
[ Speaker off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Maybe I’ll let Dr. Chan, see if she has an answer to that one. All of our experts were saying they didn’t have enough data coming in nearly every day, but it’s going to take time for the experts to figure it out.
DR. CHAN: Thank you, Governor.
So still a couple more weeks, because really with this particular variant that was identified, the Omicron variant, it was identified and named a variant of concern very rapidly. And so there’s still a lot of unknowns. So what they’re doing now, this is across the globe, is actually doing some of the laboratory studies to look at the antibodies, and some tests are happening now and will give a better understanding of what impact this variant might be able to have. Other information in terms of severity of disease, we are looking closely at what is happening in South Africa, for example, because that has the most number of identify cases with the Omicron variant. We’ll learn more certainly in the next couple weeks, but some information may still be even after that.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
DR. CHAN: Yes, what we know so far about variant in our lab, the director has been in close contact with the FDA as well as the Association of Public Health Laboratories, they know FDA in particular knows exactly each test they have approved can detect. And right now there’s no reason to doubt that any of the assays being viewed is not able to detect the variant. And so if someone has a variant and is sick with it, they should be tested.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
DR. CHAN: So, you know, I think that since early this year we have rolled out the vaccination campaign as we have seen the Alpha variant and the Beta variant, the Delta variant. You know, the changes in the virus itself is expected, and really the mutations have been happening since March 2020. And so the Omicron variant is not something unexpected, and we here in Maryland are prepared to deal with it, as the Governor indicated and we’re taking additional measures to protect our residents here in the state, and so we are concerned about this as our public health officials around the country and around the world, which is why we’re taking these actions, but there are things that people can do, and I can’t emphasize this enough, that vaccination remains our most important tool to protect ourselves and our families against COVID 19. And if you are eligible, six month after your primary series, Pfizer, Moderna, or two months after your Johnson and Johnson, getting a booster will help maintain immunity and protection against Omicron or other variants. We believe that is still the most important tool.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
DR. CHAN: So there can be a delay at times because, you know, genomic sequencing requires positive PCR. That sample is collected, and depending on the lab that did the test in the first place, we work as closely as possible with them to try to transfer the samples to our state lab or one of our contracted labs for that detailed sequencing work. And so that can take a little bit of time. So, you know, that’s where some of the work that we’re doing to, you know, ramp up our capacity, you know, our hospital partner at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins, their sequencing capacity, they are sequencing every single positive they get in the normal channels, for example. In terms of some of the changes that we have made, with this particular variant, the Omicron variant, there is something people may have heard of called the F gene dropout. And it’s a really specific characteristic of a particular PCR test that is very commonly used, and so the pattern is something that we can see if the lab uses that particular test. Our state public health lab, for example, uses it. So they have shifted to using more of it to be able to detect that particular pattern earlier and prioritize those cases for contact tracing, as well as…
[ speaker is off microphone ]
DR. CHAN: No.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
SPEAKER: I haven’t been following it. I don’t know the current. I don’t know that any actions will be taken. Obviously some of the things that we’re going to be discovering over the next few weeks may be important, but I don’t think we need to change the policy at this point, but there’s a board makes decisions and I haven’t heard what they’re doing today.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: That’s a great question. We know of we’re hosting right now a National Governors Association here in Annapolis today on infrastructure and talking with my fellow governors who we had a call yesterday. I think Dr. Chan and our team are reaching out to counterparts and federal agencies. We haven’t had it from the White House, which is concerning. I understand the president will make comments tomorrow but hasn’t given us a heads up. We’re working closely with county health officers. At this point we don’t have enough information to pass on. We’re sharing everything we know with you and with our local leaders, and the White House doesn’t know enough to update.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I sure hope not. I mean, we are not intending to return to any of those measures here in the state of Maryland. I can’t imagine that would be something that the vast majority of the public after 21 months is somewhat fatigued by some of the measures that have been taken in the early part of this. But, again, we don’t know what we’re going to find out in the next couple weeks. Right now we’re trying to do everything we can in the potential situation. We can find out in the next two weeks there is not cause, but people are vaccinated and the vaccine works, and it’s not a problem at all. I don’t think we need to be in a rush. There’s a lot of questions. I wanted to share with everyone what we know. We don’t know a lot.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: You know, you guys are from the very beginning. You need to get vaccinated and a booster and you should get tested. But we don’t want to…
People still are needing to travel. Just be safe. Get tested when you go and when you come back. If you’re sick, don’t be around loved ones. Right now I tell anybody not to panic or change plans, but we have been advising to be safe.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: It really is again, I talked about personal responsibility, and I think people should do what they feel comfortable with. At this point I don’t think we need mandates regarding that. But certainly if people are in a crowd and they don’t know all the people or whether they’re tested or vaccinated, then potential cases of Delta and perhaps other variants are out there, you know, people aren’t to take commonsense measures to do the right thing whatever they feel is best for them and their family.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I had a very productive meeting with the president this morning in my office and we talked about a number of issues. She talked about the upcoming special session, my desire for them to take up our emergency crime bill. We talked about our joint concern over the lack of data coming from the state attorney’s office, concern about the out of control violent crime in Baltimore City. We talked about redistricting. We have somewhat of a difference of opinion on that, we’re going to talk further. But the important things that are going to get done, sure, they’re going to work on commonsense details, but most people in Maryland agree with me on and I tried to explain it would be making a mistake to go against the overwhelming will of the voters. But I think, you know, on redistricting, they’re continuing to do some of the work gerrymandering the country and trying to convince them it does not make sense and they should follow the redistricting.
But we’re having dialogue and open and honest free flowing discussion. I’m not sure we have arrived at any grand bargains or compromises.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Yes, I mean, he didn’t give me any indication that they were going to overwhelmingly pass the bill, but he did commit to turning it up for a vote, which is in the past a lot of stuff has been stuck in a drawer and never acted on, but they will introduce it and they will have a hearing on both bills.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I think we… you know, I stressed trying to get this done soon. We actually passed some of these bills, as he pointed out today, the problem was really more with the House than the Senate. He expressed some reservation about the ability to get it done in special session, but I understood he thought it was important and not to delay. And if it doesn’t get passed in special session we’re coming back in January. And he’s just as concerned about crime in Baltimore City as I am. And two years ago, data we still haven’t gotten, so we’re in complete agreement on that.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I mentioned that in my remarks. Maybe I’ll let the secretary come in here and say. Our efforts, major part of our efforts is convincing people. We’ve gotten most people vaccinated. 1/10th of seniors left. It’s fantastic. But we only have had a million a million boosters is a lot. But it’s not enough. And people have this kind of false sense of security, well, I got my two shots back last spring. It’s only about 50% effective now. If you really want to be safe while traveling and being with family, get the booster. It’s easy. You can get it anywhere. And then maybe Dennis will talk about it. It makes you five times more immunity when you get the booster than when you’re declining immunity from a long time ago.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I made this very clear. Every single person 18 and over should get boosters. And if it’s J and J, get it immediately. If it’s Pfizer or Moderna and six months, do it immediately there’s no confusion.
Thank you.
[ speaker is off microphone ]
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Well, I mean, making progress, I mean, we put a tremendous amount of influence and pressure to get it done. It was crazy. The legislation said they wanted to do this and then dragged their feet a couple months. So the goal was to get it done before playoff season. But I’m not sure I don’t know exactly the timing of when the Commission is going to get their work done, but I think you should be able to…
[ Laughter ]
Thank you.
