Hucker: County Health Department Will Receive 1,000 Fewer Vaccines This Week

The Montgomery County health department will receive 1,000 fewer COVID-19 vaccine doses this week than last week, Council President Tom Hucker said at a media briefing Monday.

He said the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is set to receive 4,500 first doses this week, down from the 5,500 received last week.

“We could vaccinate 25,000 or more of our residents every week if the state would just give us the doses,” Hucker said. DHHS Director Dr. Raymond Crowel said the county is not sure why its allocation was decreased.

“The county’s doses were reduced and we do not have a good explanation of why that is the case, and know that we could do more with more doses,” Crowel said. Second doses are allotted separately, he clarified. That allotment is equivalent to the number of first-doses administered four weeks prior.

Hucker said state leaders, including Dr. Jinlene Chan, Acting Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services, will join Tuesday’s council meeting to discuss vaccine issues including vaccine distribution consistency, ramping up vaccinations, equity efforts, fixing the PrepMod appointment system and nursing homes/congregate living.

Council Vice President Gabe Albornoz said factors like the county’s high population of older adults and large minority population make it imperative for the state to offer Montgomery more vaccines. Hucker said there are about 73,000 residents ages 75+.

About Maryam Shahzad

Maryam is a reporter with Montgomery Community Media. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. Previously, she was an intern with MCM. She can be reached at mshahzad@mymcmedia.org or on Twitter @maryam_mcm.

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