Marylanders Eligible For COVID-19 Vaccine Struggle To Find Appointments As M&T Bank Stadium Site Set To Open
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Frustration is mounting in the state's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, as those eligible continue to struggle to find appointments.
Joyce Thane, 80, of Aberdeen, said she's been on a vaccine waiting list for 40 days and counting.
"Officially put me on their register on the 15th," Thane said.
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She has been eligible for a shot for more than four weeks. Now, the state is in Phase 1-C.
"And, they haven't even finished with the 1-B's," Thane said.
At the direction of state health officials, she's on multiple waiting lists, starting with Harford County.
"I signed up in Cecil County. I tried to get on Walgreens. I signed up on anywhere that would take," Thane said.
Gov. Larry Hogan said there is a reason for this problem.
"The basic problem, quite simply, is that you cannot schedule an appointment for a vaccine that does not yet exist," the governor said.
The state has two mass vaccination sites up and running with two more on the way.
M&T Bank Stadium is set to begin shots Thursday, and the minor league baseball stadium in Waldorf is set to begin shots next month.
The University of Maryland Medical System is operating the M&T Bank Stadium site.
"Obviously, we need to get shots into arms," Dr. Michelle Gourdine, with UMMS, said.
In Harford County, local officials offered up Ripken Stadium to serve as a site, but as of now, there are no plans to use it.
"They offered the site. It's right on I-95, and as you said, we think it's a perfect site for a mass vax site," Harford County Executive Barry Glassman said.
For Thane, who has high blood pressure and is turning 81 this summer, she and others over 75 continue to wait for supply to catch up to demand.
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.
