By Michael Mistroff
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Reporter
Nikki Elmore spent countless hours and nights trying to book a vaccine appointment for her 70-year-old mother.
After her husband was infected with the coronavirus last winter, a friend tipped Elmore off that CVS was opening up new appointments for testing every day at midnight. It was this trick that proved successful for Elmore, not only when securing a coronavirus testing appointment for her husband, but also when booking an appointment for her mother to get vaccinated.
“I had success using her method and wondered if maybe this might apply to the vaccination appointments as well,” Elmore said. “Tried it and after weeks of no luck, I got her a Walgreens appointment for her first and second dose.”
Like Elmore, many were faced with the challenge of booking an appointment when all Marylanders ages 16 and up were made eligible to get vaccinated last month. But that has since changed with the increase in supply and decrease in demand.
Maryland has already administered over 4.9 million doses of the vaccine with over 2 million Marylanders fully vaccinated. With over 85 percent of residents 65 years and older having received at least one dose and 62 percent of residents 16 years and older having received their first dose, the state is a leader in the administration of the vaccine.
Charles Gischlar, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Health, attributes Maryland’s high vaccination rate to the success of the state’s mass vaccination sites, which have administered nearly 800,000 doses so far. With most residents who want a vaccine having already received it, the state is shifting its focus to vaccinating hard-to-reach communities and individuals.
“We are doing that by adding mobile clinics, enlisting the help of primary care physicians and reaching out to people personally encouraging them to get vaccinated,” Gischlar said. “Now is a great time to get vaccinated to protect yourself, your family and your community.”
While it wasn’t easy for Elmore to get an appointment early on, she said that she is feeling some relief and that her patience and perseverance paid off.
“Thankfully, I’m currently a stay-at-home mom to my one-year-old son because the time it took to try and go from website to website was exhausting,” Elmore said. “Even though it’s been a lot of work, I can say my household is well on the way to being fully vaccinated.”
Jennifer Dumps, 32, is also feeling that sense of relief. Dumps is currently a junior in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Hood College. She was eligible for the vaccine in January and said she felt lucky to get vaccinated as early as she did.
“I am so grateful I got this vaccine,” Dumps said. “I find myself at moments feeling a little bit more relaxed. I still take precautions, but you do get that mindset like, ‘Oh, okay, I can take a layer of stress off.’”
Dump said she is still weary, however. With the state now in a race to vaccinate residents and Gov. Larry Hogan having lifted capacity restrictions on restaurants, retailers, and indoor recreational establishments last month, Dumps said she is worried that the overall lack of vaccinations and the variants will lead to another surge.
“Overall, I feel protected but I also feel like there is still uncertainty with the new strains,” Dumps said. “If people aren’t taking precautions like they should be, and we still have chunks of people who aren’t vaccinated, and the governor is lifting restrictions, we could see this just go into another phase again.”
Elmore said that she isn’t quite ready to return to a sense of normalcy just yet either. She said that while she is seeing friends and family resume things like vacations, going to the movies, and visiting family, it’s still going to be some time before her household relaxes, even after her family is fully vaccinated.
“For now, the only thing the vaccine is changing for me is a comforting extra layer of protection that will hopefully keep our household covid free,” Elmore said. “I think I may have felt differently if our numbers had continued to decline but as it seems numbers are climbing everywhere, I’m just not completely ready to drop all the other safeguards just yet.”
For more information on getting vaccinated in Maryland, go to www.COVIDvax.maryland.gov or call 855-MDGO-Vax.