Baltimore Employs Local Faces To Encourage Vaccination Amid Record COVID-19 Metrics
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A large number of hospitalizations has doctors and Baltimore City leaders continuing to urge people to get vaccinated.
Baltimore City launched a new PSA called "Baltimore vs. COVID" to try to get more people to get vaccinated. It features many local faces, including pastors, barbers and Mayor Brandon Scott.
It's geared toward trying to get people vaccinated.
A doctor told WJZ that vaccines are the best way to keep our hospitals from being overrun.
"There is no question about it," University of Maryland Medical Center Chief Clinical Officer Dr. David Marcozzi said. "Hospitals cannot fix this problem. The public can fix this problem."
Chopper 13 captured long lines for testing at Ripken Stadium in Harford County Monday morning.
3,364 people are now hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maryland. The state reported 47 more deaths, bringing the death toll since the start of the pandemic to just over 12,000 on Monday.
"The University of Maryland Medical System has six hospitals that are in crisis standards of care," Dr. Marcozzi said. "That means they have more patients than they can treat."
WJZ spoke with Dr. David Marcozzi, the Chief Clinical Officer at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He also serves as the Senior Medical Advisor on COVID-19 to Governor Larry Hogan and a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine
"It's going to be getting worse before this gets better," Dr. Marcozzi said. "We are anticipating our peak to be sometime towards the end of January or beginning of February."
He wants to strongly remind people that vaccines are our best defense against coronavirus and said they're the only thing that will keep our already overwhelmed hospitals from having to deal with more COVID-19 patients.
