The picture of how the COVID-19 vaccine will be rolled out in Maryland — and where CPAs fall in the pecking order — is becoming clearer by the day.
Gov. Larry Hogan offered a glimpse at that rollout plan on Jan. 5 while announcing new steps to speed up the distribution of the vaccine in Maryland. According to Hogan, the vaccine will be administered to Maryland’s various populations in three phases, with CPAs eligible for the vaccine in the second of those three phases.
In order, those phases are:
- Phase 1A, which is currently under way and includes all licensed, registered, and certified health care providers; residents and staff of nursing homes; first responders; and public safety and corrections employees. This phase includes more than half a million Marylanders.
- Phase 1B, which will include all Marylanders age 75 and older; special needs group homes; high-risk inmates; developmentally disabled populations; continuity of government vaccinations; and teachers, child care, and education staff. About 860,000 Marylanders fall into this category.
- Phase 1C, which will include all Marylanders ages 65-74; and workers in other critical sectors, including grocery stores, public transit, agriculture production, and manufacturing. Phase 1C includes an estimated 772,000 Marylanders.
- Phase 2, which will include Marylanders ages 16 to 64 who are at increased risk of COVID-19 due to comorbidities, and essential workers in critical utilities and other sectors. This phase includes an estimated 1.1 million Marylanders.
- Phase 3, which includes the state’s general population, including healthy adults ages 16 to 64.
Given their status as essential employees, CPAs will fall under Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout.
Gov. Hogan also announced the following steps to accelerate the rollout of the vaccine.
- Maryland’s National Guard and hundreds of volunteers will assist local health departments with administering the vaccine.
- All Maryland health care providers must report related data within 24 hours after vaccines are administered.
- Gov. Hogan has offered the Maryland Hospital Association all resources at the state’s disposal — including PPE, vaccinators, and logistical support — to speed the pace of vaccinations of critical hospital workers.
- Facilities that have not administered at least 75 percent of their total first-dose allocation may have their future allocations reduced until they can prove their ability to meet capacity.
- The state will adopt a rolling model in which officials will not wait for all members of a priority group to be vaccinated before moving on to the next group in line.