Maryland’s next allocation of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine may be reduced, state officials say

Maryland officials said Thursday that they’ve learned there may be a reduction in the state’s next allocation of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine next week.

“This has no impact on the initial 155,000 doses of vaccines that the state is receiving,” state Department of Health spokesman Charlie Gischlar said in an email to The Baltimore Sun.

Leaders in at least 10 states have said in recent days that the federal government informed them that their shipments next week will be far less than projected, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

Gov. Larry Hogan said he expects to get more information Friday.

“We just heard some of this today and we’re trying to get to the bottom of it,” he said at a news conference in Annapolis, where he announced new restrictions on travel amid the holiday season.

Trump administration officials told the AP that states will receive their full allocations, but there is confusion due to misunderstandings and changes to the delivery schedule.

State officials this week that Maryland could receive up to 300,000 doses of vaccines by the end of the month.

In a statement Thursday, Pfizer said it is not having any production problems with its vaccine, “and no shipments containing the vaccine are on hold or delayed.”

“This week, we successfully shipped all 2.9 million doses that we were asked to ship by the U.S. Government to the locations specified by them,” the company said. “We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses.”

Maryland reported 2,217 new COVID-19 cases Thursday and 49 deaths. More than 1,700 people are hospitalized with complications of the disease.

Earlier in the week, the Republican governor announced that he would activate the Maryland National Guard to help with the state’s vaccination rollout. Officials said all hospitals in the state and all nursing homes are set to receive the first doses of the vaccine within the next two weeks.

The Associated Press and Baltimore Sun reporter Ben Leonard contributed to this article.