MDH taking steps to encourage eligible people to get COVID-19 booster shots

MARYLAND- The Maryland Department of Health said they’re still pushing to vaccinate as many people as possible, including getting them their COVID-19 booster shots.

MDH said there’s still around 800,000 people in the state who are currently eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine and still haven’t gotten it.

Adding, they are now seeing with data released through the CDC and FDA that people who got their first series of vaccinations early on appear to be having waning immunity. So, they are encouraging eligible people to get those booster shots, by putting out a lot of information to the public and calling individuals.

“Helping people set up appointments and find a location near them, that’s a big initiative that the call center is doing, not only answering the phone calls about booster but actually making calls out to people,” Dr. Jinlene Chan, Deputy Secretary of Public Health Services at MDH, said. “In addition, we continue to have our mobile vaccination efforts throughout the state including with the vaccine equity task force 16 to get boosters out to the smaller communities.”

We are told later this week FDA is going to be considering similar booster shots for people who got Moderna and Johnson and Johnson.

Also, later this month they anticipate the FDA and CDC considering approval of the Pfizer vaccine for the 5 to 11-year-olds.