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Anne Arundel County Officials Say Patience Needed As Vaccinations Continue

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- Anne Arundel County officials ask for patience as they work through the coronavirus vaccination phases.

During a press conference Tuesday, County Executive Steuart Pittman said the county opened a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover. Pittman said people must register to get the vaccination and no walk-ins will be taken.

"Please be patient. There are hundreds of thousands of county residents that need to get vaccinated," Pittman said. "We have to do this in an organized and orderly way. We have to wait our turn."

The county moved into 1B of their vaccination phase, following the plan laid out by Gov. Larry Hogan.

"There is light at the end of this tunnel and it's coming, it's coming soon," said Pittman. "Our holiday bump is over, so those numbers have come down and we'll see whether they continue to come down or whether they level off. We don't expect them to go back up again."

Pittman said while officials do believe hospitalizations may increase, they should drop as February begins, allow for the county to lift restrictions on businesses.

"Hospitalization numbers are holding pretty steady, so while we do expect an increase there, we think those are going to drop soon as we get into February," he continued. "I am looking forward to the process of getting businesses back up and getting our restaurants back to 50%, getting this casino back to 50% which I know they would appreciate and get our getting our economy back going, but we have to time it just right. We have to do it responsibly."

Watch the press conference below:

Weekly Press Briefing - 1/19/21

Join us live now for our first livestreamed weekly press call. This morning we'll discuss the rollout of vaccination phase 1B in #AnneArundel County.

Posted by County Executive Steuart Pittman on Tuesday, January 19, 2021

For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.

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