Harford seeking state approval for mobile vaccine units as delegates join call for mass vaccination site at Ripken Stadium

The Harford County Health Department is applying to work with a state agency to bring a mobile vaccination unit that would deliver 250 coronavirus vaccinations per week to areas where vaccine coverage is low in the county.

The mobile vaccination unit, if approved by the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, would be parked in Edgewood and Aberdeen one day a week each to address lower rates of vaccine coverage in those areas, deputy health officer Marcy Austin said. Vaccine coverage in Edgewood is at 7%, the lowest in the county, followed by Aberdeen at 9%, she said.

Harford’s health department, like others across the state and country, is trying to bridge racial inequities in the vaccine’s distribution, and the mobile vaccination unit comes in direct response to those issues, Austin said.

Edgewood and Aberdeen have the largest non-white populations in Harford County, at about 58% and 40%, respectively, according to U.S. Census data.

Austin said the mobile vaccination unit hinges on approval from MEMA. The health department’s request is still being reviewed, she said last week. The department first became aware of the opportunity on March 1.

The mobile vaccine unit would not be a walk-in service, Austin said. Vaccine recipients would require an appointment through the statewide system, PrepMod, which is how the department schedules appointments at its stationary vaccine clinics.

Spokesperson for MEMA Edward McDonough said it is not a foregone conclusion that the vehicles will be available. The state agency is currently working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get the necessary equipment. The units would not be assigned to counties; state and local health officials and emergency management personnel would determine where they go based on vaccine coverage in an area and other relevant metrics.

There are many types of vehicles, McDonough said, including trailers that could have tents erected around them. He said MEMA was not aware of any local mobile vaccination units in the state, but said that some jurisdictions could be partnering with nonprofits to offer local vaccination clinics.

“Local jurisdictions are not requesting units. They are requesting visits from the mobile teams, and providing supporting documentation to show the need for such services when and if they become available,” McDonough said.

The push for mobile vaccine sites comes as the health department’s clinics move from locations in Bel Air to ones in Aberdeen and Joppa this week, and as county officials and state lawmakers seek a mass vaccination site in Harford.

County leaders first floated the idea of a large-scale clinic at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen to the state in February and have since received a letter from the state acknowledging the request, but nothing further.

The stadium, with its proximity to Interstate 95, could serve as a regional vaccination hub for the state’s northeastern corridor, County Council President Patrick Vincenti said, and Harford County is equipped to vaccinate more people than it is currently. The limitation, like elsewhere around the country, is the supply of vaccines.

“One of the most concerning issues that we have faced in the last few months is that we do not get the number of vaccines that we need,” he said. “We have the capabilities, we have the space, capacity. We have the nurses, we have the volunteers; we have everything in place to deliver more vaccines.”

Last Monday, the one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in Harford, County Executive Barry Glassman expressed frustration his jurisdiction has received the second-lowest allocation of vaccines per 1,000 residents, according to data from the Maryland Department of Health. In doing so, he also pushed on having a mass vaccination site in Harford.

In a letter to Acting Secretary of Health Dennis Schrader dated Tuesday, state delegates Mary Ann Lisanti and Steve Johnson echoed the call for a mass vaccination site at Ripken Stadium, urging the state to make a decision.

“Access to vaccines is critical to our recovery and your swift response will expedite access to many Marylanders in need,” it states, “therefore we ask that you make a prompt determination.”

Sen. J. B. Jennings also recommended a mass-vaccination clinic be opened in Harford County, though he did not specify where, in a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan. Constituents eager to receive the vaccine regularly call and email his office, he wrote.

“Providing a more convenient option for citizens in the northeast corridor would align with your commitment to providing a more equitable distribution of vaccines to all Marylanders,” he wrote.

In announcing last week that restrictions on restaurants and stores will be rescinded and large venues will be allowed to open at 50% capacity, Hogan also said the state was discussing standing up more mass vaccination sites as supply increases, with the caveat that the White House told governors the supply will remain stagnant for the next two weeks.

“We are also in discussions with a number of jurisdictions regarding additional sites as the supply of vaccines increases,” he said.

Maryland has four mass vaccination sites operational, two in Baltimore City at the Convention Center and M&T Bank Stadium, another at the Six Flags amusement park in Prince George’s County, and a recently opened Southern Maryland site in Charles County, at its minor league baseball stadium in Waldorf. An Eastern Shore site in Salisbury is expected to open later this week and the governor said a Western Maryland site, in Hagerstown, would open a week early on March 25.