GOVERNOR HOGAN: Good afternoon. Joining me today are Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford and Brigadier General Janeen Birckhead of the Maryland National Guard.
Over the past year, Maryland has been a leader, a national leader in addressing the COVID‑19 pandemic’s disparate impact on minority communities. Maryland was one of the first states to compile racial data for COVID‑19 cases and fatalities and to make available multilingual resources on public health directives. We opened our first drive through testing sites in hard‑hit ZIP codes and based testing at no cost. We stood up alternate care sites to make more hospital beds available in underserved areas in Baltimore City as well as Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
We distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency economic relief and recently passed a major billion-dollar relief package including direct relief for hundreds of thousands of Marylanders. We expanded outreach and communications efforts into minority communities including Hispanic outreach task force and we deployed mobile units to hard‑hit areas that distribute masks and information on testing.
Back in late December when the vaccines first arrived, Maryland became one of the first states in America to publish racial data with COVID‑19 vaccinations to ensure transparency with regard to vaccine equity. From day one, Maryland has made equity access to vaccines a top priority. And has continued to take a whole series of actions to make more vaccines more available to underserved communities.
In early January, we launched the Maryland task force led by General Birckhead along with the Lieutenant Governor and the Maryland Department of Health Office of Minority Health and Disparities. We called on each local jurisdiction to appoint an equity task force adviser to work with General Birckhead and her team and to develop their individual plans for equitable access to vaccines in their local communities.
We deployed the very first National Guard emergency vaccination support teams to Prince George’s and Charles Counties and assigned hundreds of Maryland responds medical reserve corps to immediately expand the capacity of their county vaccination clinics.
Over a month ago, at an event in Baltimore City, I launched a $1.5 million statewide vaccine confidence campaign which features PSAs from trusted ambassadors including Lieutenant Governor, UMBC president Freeman Hrabowski, Coppin State basketball coach Dixon and Angela Alsobrooks along with many community leaders and many others. The plan calls for adding even more ambassadors over the coming weeks to continue to public information effort to promote vaccine confidence.
The GoVAX Campaign includes TV, radio, print and social media, all of which we’ll be increasing and expanding in the coming weeks, along with a series of virtual town halls and a whole range of marketing partnerships with numerous churches, nonprofits and associations. To close the digital divide, we established a COVID‑19 vaccination call center to make the vaccine appointments and information easily available for Marylanders without internet access with live agents available in both English and Spanish seven days a week. And we’re about to launch a preregistration system, accessible for residents with and without internet access.
We placed all four of the state’s mass vaccination sites in majority/minority jurisdictions including Prince George’s County, Charles County and two in Baltimore City. With M and T Bank Stadium now operational, we have transitioned Baltimore Convention Center to focus exclusively on underserved populations in Baltimore City. And we are proactively reaching out to eligible individuals who live in high‑vulnerability ZIP codes to register them for vaccinations.
The Biden Administration planned for ensuring equity in vaccine distribution calls for federally qualified health centers which serve patients who live well below the federal poverty line. Each week, state health officials allocate vaccines to ensure equitable access. Vaccine distribution is all‑inclusive. Half of the direct allocations that go to Giant, Walmart and Safeway are set aside specifically for reaching vulnerable populations. For example, Walmart is holding closed clinics for residents from Prince George’s County free registration list and Giant is currently holding clinics for senior housing projects and at Prince George’s to reach individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
We’re conducting direct text‑based outreach, Prince George’s County residents, to proactively book hundreds of priority appointments each week at the Six Flags America vaccination site. We have worked with the Baltimore City health department at their request to make more than 30 transfers of their city health department doses to hospital systems to focus on vaccinating vulnerable communities. And as General Birckhead will discuss in more detail, we have recruited hospitals, clinical partners and pharmacies to stand up dedicated pop‑up clinics in vulnerable communities and at houses of worship.
Today, to build on all of the months of comprehensive efforts, we’re announcing the very first vaccine equity operations plan of any state in America. To further address health disparities and the issues of equity and to get more vaccines to people in every community who need them most.
As of today, state of Maryland is on the verge of 1.5 million vaccinations. Our vaccination rate is better than 34 other states. Our percentage of population vaccinated is better than 29 other states. But just as importantly as making sure that shots go into arms quickly, is that we work each and every day to ensure fairness and equitable access to vaccines.
Before I turn over to General Birckhead to present this plan, I want to express my profound gratitude to her for taking on this assignment. This is something I actually asked her to do back in the first week in January while she was commanding 15,000 troops from all across the country who were defending our nation’s capital. She had readily accepted this next mission and she and her team have been working tirelessly with health officials, with local leaders and with other partners and stakeholders and we’re very grateful for her leadership.
General?
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: Good afternoon. Thank you, Governor Hogan, Lieutenant Governor Rutherford. Glad to be with you this afternoon.
The vaccine equity task force is partnering with a wide range of public and private entities who all share the same goals and that’s putting vaccines into Marylanders. Historic data shows that vulnerable, underserve and hard to reach communities face both structural and informational barriers to vaccine access. Growing disparities in these communities make it necessary to be intentional and concrete in steps that we’re going to take to remove that’s barriers and improve the rate of vaccine in arms in vulnerable populations.
What you need to know is that we’re committed to ensuring access to the vaccine by reaching out to the community, faith‑based organizations and the intentionality is our mantra. We want to meet people where they are. I was asked to review a letter from a constituent from Prince George’s County. I’ll call her Irene for this. Irene was writing to comment on the pressing matter affecting the health and well‑being of people in her community. Her concern was access to the COVID‑19 vaccine. She remarked about how her neighbors and the tremendous loss of life in the state and the surrounding jurisdictions has impacted her and her community. She noted the disproportionate number of minorities and essential workers affected by the COVID‑19 pandemic. She went on to cite several numbers from the Maryland health department website.
Finally, she urged several steps to stop the virus in the community. I found this letter compelling and reassuring as Irene laid out several action items the equity task force had already called for in their plan. What I will lay out for you today is an action plan. It is tactical. It is intentional and it meets people where they are. So let’s proceed. Process.
From the beginning and at the core, this is a partner‑focused effort with community‑based solutions. The process is a collaborative effort with federal, state, Maryland Department of Health, local health departments and both private and public organizations. Thus far we’ve connected with a variety of organizations referred to us from various sources. As we mature, our process will act as a clearinghouse for proposals we receive from the community with interest to have COVID‑19 vaccine clinics.
Let me note here we’ll demonstrate our cultural competency by assisting anyone with the forms we have to fill out and they are brief. As proposals come in from the community, the support staff will conduct an initial review for supportability, assessing each with multiple criteria. The review will take into consideration, at a minimum, the disparities in vaccine distribution in that location. Capabilities and capacities of the community are outlined in their proposal. Capabilities and capacities are the suggested partners.
Step three, site assessment. In this step, the task force will consult with local health departments and visit the sites to complete assessments. Step four, support plan is developed. All information will be consolidated by the task force and a plan will be developed for review. Here’s where we take into consideration the registration process. The state has worked to develop a few processes which allow the Vaccine Equity Task Force to be flexible in overcoming the barrier of technology. It is not a one‑size‑fits‑all and that’s why the assessment is so important. Again, meeting people where they are and addressing the needs of the community and in the field and in a very specific way.
Step five, I will consider all staff recommendations and balance them with other pending requests and active programs. We will also facilitate discussion on vaccine outpatient to ensure consensus and it is documented. Subsequently, we’ll forward that for consideration.
Step six, we will submit the proposal to the Department of Health for review and then finally the actual allocation of the vaccine. Step seven, on‑site, it will go with the action. The task force will coordinate with all partners to schedule, provide oversight on the day of the event and to the available system needed. It allows us as a task force to bring actual resources to assist in problem‑solving at the roll‑out and at the specific locations.
The goal is to provide enough support and oversight to make the clinic self‑sufficient with minimal or no oversight going forward. New Shiloh Baptist church, here is an example of the end product. After following the steps, the community was able to hold their first clinic with a soft launch of 50 vaccines on its first day.
Also, here is an example of the private/public partnership. Safeway agreed to provide the vaccine. Now the public is comfortable, we’ll be back in Baltimore at New Shiloh Baptist Church for a second clinic. As I mentioned, the importance of the Maryland Department of Health, the Baltimore Department of Health, we’re looking to expand this successful initiative located right in the right place in the right community at the right time. The plan that is being released today is flexible. It is data‑driven and reliant on a team approach to get Marylanders vaccinated.
How will we get projects like New Shiloh into other locations? Here is an overview of the process by which we bridge the gap that are limiting the number of Marylanders receiving the COVID‑19 vaccine. We utilize several validated social economic variables to identify the communities and the individuals who are vulnerable, underserved, hesitant or difficult to reach. This composite will guide the outreach.
A few specifics key to the Maryland Vaccine Equity Task Force composite includes an opportunity for updates frequently. The ability to adjust variables and weighing those over time to equity. It has vaccine data based on gender, race, ethnicity, ZIP code, census data and the type of dose, first or second. And variables which could skew results. The composite variables specifically include population over 65. Population with an annual income below $49,000. Unemployment rates. Population older than 25 years of age without a high school diploma. Minority compositions of the community. Single parent households. Households with more than one person in a room. Households without access to vehicles. Total COVID cases and the amount of population receiving at least the first dose. Our sources for data include the 2020 census, the American Community Survey, the ACS, the Maryland internal data, the CDC, social vulnerability index and the deprivation index.
Working with Ernst and Young and Jensen and partners and the task force, these data are compiled and analyzed to produce a Maryland‑specific assessment. These assessments will allow the task force to focus on these areas to establish partnerships with local health departments and community organizations and private partners. And coordinate to ensure that we’re meeting their shortfalls.
Sacred Heart. In just over the last few weeks, we have been able to evaluate and we will continue to work with community leaders to find what approach works best as they know best what works in their community. We have listened and we will listen. While this one instance affects our accomplishment, we still have a way to go. Sacred Heart primarily services the Hispanic, Latina X community. We administered 150 vaccines on that day in coordination with Johns Hopkins as partners and the task force. We intend to continue at this location as well. And we hope to have increased volume over time.
The task force is working hard to ensure we meet the community leaders through citizens. All 24 counties and their liaisons, the equity task force is out every day connecting with the community and understanding the needs to bring shots to you in the community. The bottom line is that our efforts are transparent and will achieve what the governor has asked me to do. With just a breakdown barriers, to expand access of the COVID‑19 vaccine and to stabilize underserved and hard to reach communities.
I appreciate the governor and the Maryland Department of Health as we work toward a more equitable distribution. We look forward to upcoming events at the Prince George’s County and the first Baptist church. We will provide over 900 doses a day to Prince George’s County residents. The site will launch in March in partnership with the University of Maryland and the Maryland Department of Health. We will also launch mobile vax on the eastern shore and in western Maryland.
We’re also look forward to upcoming site visits to the Muslim community center and Montgomery County to name a few. To community leaders, if you recognize the need, please reach out to your local health department. You can also find additional information on our portal which will launch today. There is a correlation between knowing someone who has been vaccinate and wanting the vaccine. Among people who say they want the vaccine as soon as possible, 52 percent know someone who have had the vaccine. When you get vaccinated, be that trusted voice in your community and encourage others.
Together, we will reach community immunity. If you need more information or to schedule appointments, 1‑855‑MDGOVAX. Equality matters. Thank you.
BOYD RUTHERFORD: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you, governor and General. The objective is to get many people vaccinated as possible so we can end the coronavirus pandemic. When it comes to making major decisions, people often go to their friends, their family members and experts for advice. And making the decision to get a vaccine, to get vaccinated, is no different. Amongst Marylanders or anyone else.
Engaging with the pillars of our community across the state including our faith‑based communities is a cornerstone of our strategy to allow us to reach those vulnerable to make sure that they don’t contract the disease and possibly succumb to the coronavirus. We want to make sure that we address the equitable distribution of the vaccines.
General Birckhead has mentioned she and I have been visiting, over the last several weeks, several of our community vaccination sites. These community clinics are made possible by a partnership between the state, houses of worship and local hospitals and pharmacies. With the goal of meeting people where they are in an effort to reach them in ways that government often isn’t able to do.
Reid Temple Church partnered with doctors community Medical Center to bridge the gap for members of their community. During the visit, Pastor Marc spoke openly about losing his mother to COVID‑19 while he was looking at the pew where his mother used to sit on Sunday morning. The pastor has been leading by example, by encourage his members to get vaccinated. They shared her family’s story and what she and her family members had to go through. The clinic was able to deliver 250 initial doses. Last weekend, that number climbed to 1400 vaccines.
Kingdom Fellowship in Silver Spring which serves parts of Montgomery County and Prince George’s County has partnered for a vaccination pilot. In their first weekend, they administered over 100 dose and the church has expressed a desire to continue that momentum. In fact, the pastor took part or is taking part, I should say, in a vaccine trial as we speak.
Baltimore City, Sacred Heart of Jesus church which serves a large Latino population in the highlands area has a clinic ‑‑ I guess it was a week ago. The days go by so quickly. There was a woman that we met there, her name was Maria, who told us in Spanish that she was excited to get the vaccine that day and took pictures with us so that she could send back to her family in Peru. And she said that back home, many of the people don’t trust the vaccine. That they believe it is dangerous. And she wanted to make sure that the pictures that she took would go back to her family and friends in Peru to show that the shots were safe and they were effective. She told me that she was grateful for the opportunity to get that vaccine, to get vaccinated at the church. And we are grateful for Maria and folks like her who are using their voice to bring others along and move closer to ending the pandemic.
As General Birckhead said, New Shiloh Baptist Church in west Baltimore is adding a vaccine clinic along with a myriad of resources that they provide to their community. And as was mentioned as a partnership between the state as well as the church. And they had a successful launch, a soft launch last week, where they vaccinated approximately 50 people and are expecting to vaccinate 250 more this weekend of seniors from their community.
So going forward, these houses of worship, as we all know, are places of refuge. People feel safe and cared for there. And it is these community center models that will build confidence in vaccines and the vaccination process and provide more points of access for COVID‑19 vaccine as that supply increases and the number of people eligible for the vaccines increase as well. We look forward to further developing and expanding these partnerships to meet people where they are and to build the trust and of course, to get shots in as many Marylanders as possible. Thank you very much.
GOVERNOR HOGAN: We’ll take a few questions.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I would say that we’re willing to continue to work with the County Executive and do plans as we can. Our on‑going discussion, our teams have had multiple discussions with her today. We talk just about every single day. The General just mentioned about a new clinic in Glenarden that will do about 900 per day. We’re reserving a certain percentage of slots at Six Flags every day and with the increasing supply of doses, perhaps we can make adjustments.
I want to give a shout out to the health Department of Prince George’s County who has made some dramatic improvements over the past week or two and their numbers are rising. I think we did 3600 in Six Flags yesterday and I think their health department location is also seeing a dramatic improvement. We’re going to continue to work with them.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: We’re actually doing both which is what I said in my opening remarks. Why we set up the first four mass sites. We set up partnerships with hospital partners and pharmacies and other providers in those areas. And that’s why we’ve reached out to try to help with the National Guard and others with some of the local health departments and others who are in the community. We also want to reach into those smaller pockets because it is a top‑down and bottom‑up approach.
We’re trying to do everything we possibly can. Currently, as of today, I think 60.4 percent of the vaccines are for white residents. Population is 58.5. So that’s slightly more than the population. But we have a ‑‑ we’re not where we need to be with the black community or the Hispanic community. So we’re continue to take every effort to ramp that up. I think 3.5 times the national average but not good enough. We’re going to keep working.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: I want to quickly hit on your comment about community driven. It is specific to a community. Needs may be different regarding what the barrier is. That’s why we’re heavily involved in going to the community. The data we laid out that, will drive us to certain locations and with those locations and the equity task force is reaching out and going into the community to ensure that we have the right partners. So we’re hitting it from both angles and the data drives us to do that. And then it has to be both ways and it is both ways.
To your question, mobile vaccine, we recently ‑‑ had conversations with the Wicomico health departments to talk about getting the mobile vax down. There are two parts. We have an actual van, bus that we’ll put on the shore. Actually, in Dorchester County, they’re doing a pretty good job with their mobile vax and they’re going to supplement that with our mobile vaccines.
That will bring vaccines with it to that location and we plan to run that up and down the shore, depending on where the needs are. We also will be working with FEMA to bring in the FEMA trailers which will park for a couple of days. We’re looking at using those on the shore and in the western Maryland area, particularly looking out toward the west.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: So the first part of your question is really situational specific. I know that from being in the community and understanding what the capabilities and the gaps are in the community. So in some instances, we’ve been able to move from one to the end very quickly because we can partner with Safeway in the community or Walmart and we have people who are ready to go to the church and open it up or to the venue, we’re good to go.
In other instances, it is taking some time to walk through the process, how do we get your lists? How do we get people in? So it is situation‑specific and we’re very intentional about working with the community, not to stress anyone to rush them through the process if they’re not capable or wanting to move that quickly. Your other piece will hope, my hope is that we get more vaccines and that I can be at 100 percent next week. That’s my hope. That’s the way I’ll answer that.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: As I said, we’re not getting any more vaccine ‑‑ as we get more vaccine, certainly we’ll be able to go to more places. The vaccine is what we have. So as far as knowing that those communities are there and we need more vaccine there, that’s why the task force is so important so that we can take that and elevate those issues. It is not just about the number. It shows it here and I can’t wait for you to stand up and have vax sites but we can get together with partners and address that immediately, a lot more quicker than any mass vax site. That takes quite a while. And the site takes weeks.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I use the exact same words that President Biden used and that the federal government used every day. The same thing we’ve announced at a press conference in Baltimore when we launched the vaccine confidence campaign. So look, I’m not going to respond to every political criticism. We’re just going to continue to do the best we can. Adding more people to our vaccine confidence campaign, we’re going to spend more money to expand that. That’s about developing more confidence.
We heard Lieutenant Governor talk about recruiting, telling their stories to encourage more people to get the vaccine and the General, movingly told about her own mother getting the vaccine. We’re going to get criticism every day. A lot of people are frustrated there aren’t enough vaccines. I’m sensitive to that. I’m frustrated also. But I’m not going to respond to every criticism about what isn’t liked about what we do or say.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: This is probably going to be taken out of context so I don’t want to be criticizing the mayor in any way. We have conversations every day with his health department which is really cooperating with. I mentioned earlier we’ve transferred 30 times, doses away from the health department out to other providers because they weren’t utilizing them and we thought other providers could get them into the community. The mayor apparently wasn’t aware of that. He kept saying they weren’t getting enough and the health department kept saying we have way too much, please send them somewhere else. They were doing a good job working with us if the mayor wasn’t up to speed.
We also tried to send $9 million through the city to try to help them with their vaccine equity efforts which they turned down. We’re still trying to get them to take it. Again, I’m not going to get into the political back and forth. I know the mayor is frustrate and receiving a lot of criticism and trying to blame it on us. We’re doing everything we can every single day to provide more assistance. He needs to talk to his health department.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: The assessment is already done. We have a schematic of how ‑‑ like a 36,000 square foot recreation center that we’re using. So we have that all laid out, how the citizens would come in and how they would register, move out to get your vaccine after you’re asked a few questions and there is a process to go to an area and wait 15 to 30 minutes depending on how long you need to wait to be observed before you can leave. So it is very efficient. We’ll have the technology there for you to complete any paperwork online and then it will be uploaded to the system that you have your first dose.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: Correct. They’ll know. You schedule with a second appointment when you leave.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: The National Guard, having commanded the army National Guard for three years, I can’t tell you the phenomenal job that our soldiers have done in the community. We’re there in snowstorms, we’re there in Ellicott City and we’re there when there’s discord and there to respond to the discord in Washington, D.C. We’re there COVID when there were food banks that needed to be man and kids needed laptops for school. The National Guard was there in their communities.
So it is not for a lack of trying or being in the community and doing what the National Guard does best, supporting our homeland. So we will continue to do the best that we can and provide to the citizens in Maryland and to our nation. I can’t say anymore that I’m so proud of my organization for doing what they do each and every day.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: They have every right to do that. I was just pointing out that the mayor says they don’t have enough but the health department is going to take it away to give it to other folks to help. They’re not getting enough help when they turn down $9 million. Thank you.
Over the past year, Maryland has been a leader, a national leader in addressing the COVID‑19 pandemic’s disparate impact on minority communities. Maryland was one of the first states to compile racial data for COVID‑19 cases and fatalities and to make available multilingual resources on public health directives. We opened our first drive through testing sites in hard‑hit ZIP codes and based testing at no cost. We stood up alternate care sites to make more hospital beds available in underserved areas in Baltimore City as well as Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
We distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency economic relief and recently passed a major billion-dollar relief package including direct relief for hundreds of thousands of Marylanders. We expanded outreach and communications efforts into minority communities including Hispanic outreach task force and we deployed mobile units to hard‑hit areas that distribute masks and information on testing.
Back in late December when the vaccines first arrived, Maryland became one of the first states in America to publish racial data with COVID‑19 vaccinations to ensure transparency with regard to vaccine equity. From day one, Maryland has made equity access to vaccines a top priority. And has continued to take a whole series of actions to make more vaccines more available to underserved communities.
In early January, we launched the Maryland task force led by General Birckhead along with the Lieutenant Governor and the Maryland Department of Health Office of Minority Health and Disparities. We called on each local jurisdiction to appoint an equity task force adviser to work with General Birckhead and her team and to develop their individual plans for equitable access to vaccines in their local communities.
We deployed the very first National Guard emergency vaccination support teams to Prince George’s and Charles Counties and assigned hundreds of Maryland responds medical reserve corps to immediately expand the capacity of their county vaccination clinics.
Over a month ago, at an event in Baltimore City, I launched a $1.5 million statewide vaccine confidence campaign which features PSAs from trusted ambassadors including Lieutenant Governor, UMBC president Freeman Hrabowski, Coppin State basketball coach Dixon and Angela Alsobrooks along with many community leaders and many others. The plan calls for adding even more ambassadors over the coming weeks to continue to public information effort to promote vaccine confidence.
The GoVAX Campaign includes TV, radio, print and social media, all of which we’ll be increasing and expanding in the coming weeks, along with a series of virtual town halls and a whole range of marketing partnerships with numerous churches, nonprofits and associations. To close the digital divide, we established a COVID‑19 vaccination call center to make the vaccine appointments and information easily available for Marylanders without internet access with live agents available in both English and Spanish seven days a week. And we’re about to launch a preregistration system, accessible for residents with and without internet access.
We placed all four of the state’s mass vaccination sites in majority/minority jurisdictions including Prince George’s County, Charles County and two in Baltimore City. With M and T Bank Stadium now operational, we have transitioned Baltimore Convention Center to focus exclusively on underserved populations in Baltimore City. And we are proactively reaching out to eligible individuals who live in high‑vulnerability ZIP codes to register them for vaccinations.
The Biden Administration planned for ensuring equity in vaccine distribution calls for federally qualified health centers which serve patients who live well below the federal poverty line. Each week, state health officials allocate vaccines to ensure equitable access. Vaccine distribution is all‑inclusive. Half of the direct allocations that go to Giant, Walmart and Safeway are set aside specifically for reaching vulnerable populations. For example, Walmart is holding closed clinics for residents from Prince George’s County free registration list and Giant is currently holding clinics for senior housing projects and at Prince George’s to reach individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
We’re conducting direct text‑based outreach, Prince George’s County residents, to proactively book hundreds of priority appointments each week at the Six Flags America vaccination site. We have worked with the Baltimore City health department at their request to make more than 30 transfers of their city health department doses to hospital systems to focus on vaccinating vulnerable communities. And as General Birckhead will discuss in more detail, we have recruited hospitals, clinical partners and pharmacies to stand up dedicated pop‑up clinics in vulnerable communities and at houses of worship.
Today, to build on all of the months of comprehensive efforts, we’re announcing the very first vaccine equity operations plan of any state in America. To further address health disparities and the issues of equity and to get more vaccines to people in every community who need them most.
As of today, state of Maryland is on the verge of 1.5 million vaccinations. Our vaccination rate is better than 34 other states. Our percentage of population vaccinated is better than 29 other states. But just as importantly as making sure that shots go into arms quickly, is that we work each and every day to ensure fairness and equitable access to vaccines.
Before I turn over to General Birckhead to present this plan, I want to express my profound gratitude to her for taking on this assignment. This is something I actually asked her to do back in the first week in January while she was commanding 15,000 troops from all across the country who were defending our nation’s capital. She had readily accepted this next mission and she and her team have been working tirelessly with health officials, with local leaders and with other partners and stakeholders and we’re very grateful for her leadership.
General?
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: Good afternoon. Thank you, Governor Hogan, Lieutenant Governor Rutherford. Glad to be with you this afternoon.
The vaccine equity task force is partnering with a wide range of public and private entities who all share the same goals and that’s putting vaccines into Marylanders. Historic data shows that vulnerable, underserve and hard to reach communities face both structural and informational barriers to vaccine access. Growing disparities in these communities make it necessary to be intentional and concrete in steps that we’re going to take to remove that’s barriers and improve the rate of vaccine in arms in vulnerable populations.
What you need to know is that we’re committed to ensuring access to the vaccine by reaching out to the community, faith‑based organizations and the intentionality is our mantra. We want to meet people where they are. I was asked to review a letter from a constituent from Prince George’s County. I’ll call her Irene for this. Irene was writing to comment on the pressing matter affecting the health and well‑being of people in her community. Her concern was access to the COVID‑19 vaccine. She remarked about how her neighbors and the tremendous loss of life in the state and the surrounding jurisdictions has impacted her and her community. She noted the disproportionate number of minorities and essential workers affected by the COVID‑19 pandemic. She went on to cite several numbers from the Maryland health department website.
Finally, she urged several steps to stop the virus in the community. I found this letter compelling and reassuring as Irene laid out several action items the equity task force had already called for in their plan. What I will lay out for you today is an action plan. It is tactical. It is intentional and it meets people where they are. So let’s proceed. Process.
From the beginning and at the core, this is a partner‑focused effort with community‑based solutions. The process is a collaborative effort with federal, state, Maryland Department of Health, local health departments and both private and public organizations. Thus far we’ve connected with a variety of organizations referred to us from various sources. As we mature, our process will act as a clearinghouse for proposals we receive from the community with interest to have COVID‑19 vaccine clinics.
Let me note here we’ll demonstrate our cultural competency by assisting anyone with the forms we have to fill out and they are brief. As proposals come in from the community, the support staff will conduct an initial review for supportability, assessing each with multiple criteria. The review will take into consideration, at a minimum, the disparities in vaccine distribution in that location. Capabilities and capacities of the community are outlined in their proposal. Capabilities and capacities are the suggested partners.
Step three, site assessment. In this step, the task force will consult with local health departments and visit the sites to complete assessments. Step four, support plan is developed. All information will be consolidated by the task force and a plan will be developed for review. Here’s where we take into consideration the registration process. The state has worked to develop a few processes which allow the Vaccine Equity Task Force to be flexible in overcoming the barrier of technology. It is not a one‑size‑fits‑all and that’s why the assessment is so important. Again, meeting people where they are and addressing the needs of the community and in the field and in a very specific way.
Step five, I will consider all staff recommendations and balance them with other pending requests and active programs. We will also facilitate discussion on vaccine outpatient to ensure consensus and it is documented. Subsequently, we’ll forward that for consideration.
Step six, we will submit the proposal to the Department of Health for review and then finally the actual allocation of the vaccine. Step seven, on‑site, it will go with the action. The task force will coordinate with all partners to schedule, provide oversight on the day of the event and to the available system needed. It allows us as a task force to bring actual resources to assist in problem‑solving at the roll‑out and at the specific locations.
The goal is to provide enough support and oversight to make the clinic self‑sufficient with minimal or no oversight going forward. New Shiloh Baptist church, here is an example of the end product. After following the steps, the community was able to hold their first clinic with a soft launch of 50 vaccines on its first day.
Also, here is an example of the private/public partnership. Safeway agreed to provide the vaccine. Now the public is comfortable, we’ll be back in Baltimore at New Shiloh Baptist Church for a second clinic. As I mentioned, the importance of the Maryland Department of Health, the Baltimore Department of Health, we’re looking to expand this successful initiative located right in the right place in the right community at the right time. The plan that is being released today is flexible. It is data‑driven and reliant on a team approach to get Marylanders vaccinated.
How will we get projects like New Shiloh into other locations? Here is an overview of the process by which we bridge the gap that are limiting the number of Marylanders receiving the COVID‑19 vaccine. We utilize several validated social economic variables to identify the communities and the individuals who are vulnerable, underserved, hesitant or difficult to reach. This composite will guide the outreach.
A few specifics key to the Maryland Vaccine Equity Task Force composite includes an opportunity for updates frequently. The ability to adjust variables and weighing those over time to equity. It has vaccine data based on gender, race, ethnicity, ZIP code, census data and the type of dose, first or second. And variables which could skew results. The composite variables specifically include population over 65. Population with an annual income below $49,000. Unemployment rates. Population older than 25 years of age without a high school diploma. Minority compositions of the community. Single parent households. Households with more than one person in a room. Households without access to vehicles. Total COVID cases and the amount of population receiving at least the first dose. Our sources for data include the 2020 census, the American Community Survey, the ACS, the Maryland internal data, the CDC, social vulnerability index and the deprivation index.
Working with Ernst and Young and Jensen and partners and the task force, these data are compiled and analyzed to produce a Maryland‑specific assessment. These assessments will allow the task force to focus on these areas to establish partnerships with local health departments and community organizations and private partners. And coordinate to ensure that we’re meeting their shortfalls.
Sacred Heart. In just over the last few weeks, we have been able to evaluate and we will continue to work with community leaders to find what approach works best as they know best what works in their community. We have listened and we will listen. While this one instance affects our accomplishment, we still have a way to go. Sacred Heart primarily services the Hispanic, Latina X community. We administered 150 vaccines on that day in coordination with Johns Hopkins as partners and the task force. We intend to continue at this location as well. And we hope to have increased volume over time.
The task force is working hard to ensure we meet the community leaders through citizens. All 24 counties and their liaisons, the equity task force is out every day connecting with the community and understanding the needs to bring shots to you in the community. The bottom line is that our efforts are transparent and will achieve what the governor has asked me to do. With just a breakdown barriers, to expand access of the COVID‑19 vaccine and to stabilize underserved and hard to reach communities.
I appreciate the governor and the Maryland Department of Health as we work toward a more equitable distribution. We look forward to upcoming events at the Prince George’s County and the first Baptist church. We will provide over 900 doses a day to Prince George’s County residents. The site will launch in March in partnership with the University of Maryland and the Maryland Department of Health. We will also launch mobile vax on the eastern shore and in western Maryland.
We’re also look forward to upcoming site visits to the Muslim community center and Montgomery County to name a few. To community leaders, if you recognize the need, please reach out to your local health department. You can also find additional information on our portal which will launch today. There is a correlation between knowing someone who has been vaccinate and wanting the vaccine. Among people who say they want the vaccine as soon as possible, 52 percent know someone who have had the vaccine. When you get vaccinated, be that trusted voice in your community and encourage others.
Together, we will reach community immunity. If you need more information or to schedule appointments, 1‑855‑MDGOVAX. Equality matters. Thank you.
BOYD RUTHERFORD: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you, governor and General. The objective is to get many people vaccinated as possible so we can end the coronavirus pandemic. When it comes to making major decisions, people often go to their friends, their family members and experts for advice. And making the decision to get a vaccine, to get vaccinated, is no different. Amongst Marylanders or anyone else.
Engaging with the pillars of our community across the state including our faith‑based communities is a cornerstone of our strategy to allow us to reach those vulnerable to make sure that they don’t contract the disease and possibly succumb to the coronavirus. We want to make sure that we address the equitable distribution of the vaccines.
General Birckhead has mentioned she and I have been visiting, over the last several weeks, several of our community vaccination sites. These community clinics are made possible by a partnership between the state, houses of worship and local hospitals and pharmacies. With the goal of meeting people where they are in an effort to reach them in ways that government often isn’t able to do.
Reid Temple Church partnered with doctors community Medical Center to bridge the gap for members of their community. During the visit, Pastor Marc spoke openly about losing his mother to COVID‑19 while he was looking at the pew where his mother used to sit on Sunday morning. The pastor has been leading by example, by encourage his members to get vaccinated. They shared her family’s story and what she and her family members had to go through. The clinic was able to deliver 250 initial doses. Last weekend, that number climbed to 1400 vaccines.
Kingdom Fellowship in Silver Spring which serves parts of Montgomery County and Prince George’s County has partnered for a vaccination pilot. In their first weekend, they administered over 100 dose and the church has expressed a desire to continue that momentum. In fact, the pastor took part or is taking part, I should say, in a vaccine trial as we speak.
Baltimore City, Sacred Heart of Jesus church which serves a large Latino population in the highlands area has a clinic ‑‑ I guess it was a week ago. The days go by so quickly. There was a woman that we met there, her name was Maria, who told us in Spanish that she was excited to get the vaccine that day and took pictures with us so that she could send back to her family in Peru. And she said that back home, many of the people don’t trust the vaccine. That they believe it is dangerous. And she wanted to make sure that the pictures that she took would go back to her family and friends in Peru to show that the shots were safe and they were effective. She told me that she was grateful for the opportunity to get that vaccine, to get vaccinated at the church. And we are grateful for Maria and folks like her who are using their voice to bring others along and move closer to ending the pandemic.
As General Birckhead said, New Shiloh Baptist Church in west Baltimore is adding a vaccine clinic along with a myriad of resources that they provide to their community. And as was mentioned as a partnership between the state as well as the church. And they had a successful launch, a soft launch last week, where they vaccinated approximately 50 people and are expecting to vaccinate 250 more this weekend of seniors from their community.
So going forward, these houses of worship, as we all know, are places of refuge. People feel safe and cared for there. And it is these community center models that will build confidence in vaccines and the vaccination process and provide more points of access for COVID‑19 vaccine as that supply increases and the number of people eligible for the vaccines increase as well. We look forward to further developing and expanding these partnerships to meet people where they are and to build the trust and of course, to get shots in as many Marylanders as possible. Thank you very much.
GOVERNOR HOGAN: We’ll take a few questions.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I would say that we’re willing to continue to work with the County Executive and do plans as we can. Our on‑going discussion, our teams have had multiple discussions with her today. We talk just about every single day. The General just mentioned about a new clinic in Glenarden that will do about 900 per day. We’re reserving a certain percentage of slots at Six Flags every day and with the increasing supply of doses, perhaps we can make adjustments.
I want to give a shout out to the health Department of Prince George’s County who has made some dramatic improvements over the past week or two and their numbers are rising. I think we did 3600 in Six Flags yesterday and I think their health department location is also seeing a dramatic improvement. We’re going to continue to work with them.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: We’re actually doing both which is what I said in my opening remarks. Why we set up the first four mass sites. We set up partnerships with hospital partners and pharmacies and other providers in those areas. And that’s why we’ve reached out to try to help with the National Guard and others with some of the local health departments and others who are in the community. We also want to reach into those smaller pockets because it is a top‑down and bottom‑up approach.
We’re trying to do everything we possibly can. Currently, as of today, I think 60.4 percent of the vaccines are for white residents. Population is 58.5. So that’s slightly more than the population. But we have a ‑‑ we’re not where we need to be with the black community or the Hispanic community. So we’re continue to take every effort to ramp that up. I think 3.5 times the national average but not good enough. We’re going to keep working.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: I want to quickly hit on your comment about community driven. It is specific to a community. Needs may be different regarding what the barrier is. That’s why we’re heavily involved in going to the community. The data we laid out that, will drive us to certain locations and with those locations and the equity task force is reaching out and going into the community to ensure that we have the right partners. So we’re hitting it from both angles and the data drives us to do that. And then it has to be both ways and it is both ways.
To your question, mobile vaccine, we recently ‑‑ had conversations with the Wicomico health departments to talk about getting the mobile vax down. There are two parts. We have an actual van, bus that we’ll put on the shore. Actually, in Dorchester County, they’re doing a pretty good job with their mobile vax and they’re going to supplement that with our mobile vaccines.
That will bring vaccines with it to that location and we plan to run that up and down the shore, depending on where the needs are. We also will be working with FEMA to bring in the FEMA trailers which will park for a couple of days. We’re looking at using those on the shore and in the western Maryland area, particularly looking out toward the west.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: So the first part of your question is really situational specific. I know that from being in the community and understanding what the capabilities and the gaps are in the community. So in some instances, we’ve been able to move from one to the end very quickly because we can partner with Safeway in the community or Walmart and we have people who are ready to go to the church and open it up or to the venue, we’re good to go.
In other instances, it is taking some time to walk through the process, how do we get your lists? How do we get people in? So it is situation‑specific and we’re very intentional about working with the community, not to stress anyone to rush them through the process if they’re not capable or wanting to move that quickly. Your other piece will hope, my hope is that we get more vaccines and that I can be at 100 percent next week. That’s my hope. That’s the way I’ll answer that.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: As I said, we’re not getting any more vaccine ‑‑ as we get more vaccine, certainly we’ll be able to go to more places. The vaccine is what we have. So as far as knowing that those communities are there and we need more vaccine there, that’s why the task force is so important so that we can take that and elevate those issues. It is not just about the number. It shows it here and I can’t wait for you to stand up and have vax sites but we can get together with partners and address that immediately, a lot more quicker than any mass vax site. That takes quite a while. And the site takes weeks.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: I use the exact same words that President Biden used and that the federal government used every day. The same thing we’ve announced at a press conference in Baltimore when we launched the vaccine confidence campaign. So look, I’m not going to respond to every political criticism. We’re just going to continue to do the best we can. Adding more people to our vaccine confidence campaign, we’re going to spend more money to expand that. That’s about developing more confidence.
We heard Lieutenant Governor talk about recruiting, telling their stories to encourage more people to get the vaccine and the General, movingly told about her own mother getting the vaccine. We’re going to get criticism every day. A lot of people are frustrated there aren’t enough vaccines. I’m sensitive to that. I’m frustrated also. But I’m not going to respond to every criticism about what isn’t liked about what we do or say.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: This is probably going to be taken out of context so I don’t want to be criticizing the mayor in any way. We have conversations every day with his health department which is really cooperating with. I mentioned earlier we’ve transferred 30 times, doses away from the health department out to other providers because they weren’t utilizing them and we thought other providers could get them into the community. The mayor apparently wasn’t aware of that. He kept saying they weren’t getting enough and the health department kept saying we have way too much, please send them somewhere else. They were doing a good job working with us if the mayor wasn’t up to speed.
We also tried to send $9 million through the city to try to help them with their vaccine equity efforts which they turned down. We’re still trying to get them to take it. Again, I’m not going to get into the political back and forth. I know the mayor is frustrate and receiving a lot of criticism and trying to blame it on us. We’re doing everything we can every single day to provide more assistance. He needs to talk to his health department.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: The assessment is already done. We have a schematic of how ‑‑ like a 36,000 square foot recreation center that we’re using. So we have that all laid out, how the citizens would come in and how they would register, move out to get your vaccine after you’re asked a few questions and there is a process to go to an area and wait 15 to 30 minutes depending on how long you need to wait to be observed before you can leave. So it is very efficient. We’ll have the technology there for you to complete any paperwork online and then it will be uploaded to the system that you have your first dose.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: Correct. They’ll know. You schedule with a second appointment when you leave.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
JANEEN BIRCKHEAD: The National Guard, having commanded the army National Guard for three years, I can’t tell you the phenomenal job that our soldiers have done in the community. We’re there in snowstorms, we’re there in Ellicott City and we’re there when there’s discord and there to respond to the discord in Washington, D.C. We’re there COVID when there were food banks that needed to be man and kids needed laptops for school. The National Guard was there in their communities.
So it is not for a lack of trying or being in the community and doing what the National Guard does best, supporting our homeland. So we will continue to do the best that we can and provide to the citizens in Maryland and to our nation. I can’t say anymore that I’m so proud of my organization for doing what they do each and every day.
SPEAKER: (Off Microphone).
GOVERNOR HOGAN: They have every right to do that. I was just pointing out that the mayor says they don’t have enough but the health department is going to take it away to give it to other folks to help. They’re not getting enough help when they turn down $9 million. Thank you.