Summer Surge: As Coronavirus Infections Rise In Maryland, Some Reveal Why They Won't Get Vaccine; Hogan Says 'Breakthrough' Infections Under 1%

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) — Less than half of people in Baltimore City are fully vaccinated. Dondrick Ford said he is one of those who remains hesitant. "I'm not even going to lie to you, I'm not vaccinated, but I am going to get vaccinated," Ford told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren.

He said the recent rise in COVID—19 cases fueled by the more contagious Delta variant has changed his mind.

"Even though I do have concerns about vaccinations, to me it will probably save my life," Ford said.

Hospitalizations increased Tuesday. There are 208 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 with 140 in acute care and 49 in the ICU.

In some neighborhoods, fewer than 30% of people have taken the vaccine. On Wednesday, Maryland recorded more than 400 new infections for the first time since May.

Despite that, Kevin BooDoo told Hellgren he still is not ready to get the shot.

"I haven't been vaccinated. I don't think enough research has been done," said Boodoo, who told us he wears his mask whenever he is inside public spaces. "I'm kind of skeptical about having a vaccine that hasn't been proven."

Baltimore's NAACP Branch President Dr. Kobi Little said the risk of hospitalization and death without the shots is too high.

"In the Black community, we should be terribly, terribly concerned that our vaccination levels are so low because it means that we are incredibly vulnerable," Rev. Little said at a town hall. "There are some Black zip codes in Baltimore City where the vaccination level is at 20%. That means that in every group of 10 people, 8 people are not vaccinated. It means that not just a majority, but the vast, overwhelming majority of people are susceptible."

Mayor Brandon Scott pleaded with people to get the vaccine again on Wednesday. "100% of fatalities during the month of June in Maryland were from unvaccinated residents. It's that plain and simple. Women lie. Men lie. The numbers don't," Mayor Scott said.

Governor Hogan said the vaccine is remarkably effective and revealed at the Board of Public Works there have been very few breakthrough cases among those who've gotten the shots. He said they account for .07% of infections.

There are now 3,546,233 Marylanders fully vaccinated. The state has administered a total of 7,147,314 doses. Of those,3,601,081 are first doses with 6,630 administered in the past 24 hours. They have given out 3,275,034 second doses, 5,818 in the last day.

Dr Esti Schabelman, the chief medical officer at Sinai Hospital, advised people to keep wearing their masks indoors in public spaces. The Centers for Disease Control issued that same guidance in areas where the transmission rate is high.

Dr. Schabelman told Hellgren the clock is ticking before Covid mutates again as cases increase at even greater numbers. "The virus spreads exponentially. Yes, we had 400 today, but we had 80 a couple of weeks ago. So we would expect this virus to spread in an exponential manner, and we could have thousands in a couple of weeks. So we have to be very, very careful. We have not reached heard immunity—and there are plenty of unvaccinated people still in Maryland," the doctor said.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES:

Here are the latest numbers in Maryland:

By County

First Dose Second Dose Single Dose
County Count of Vaccinated Proportion of Population Vaccinated Count of Vaccinated Proportion of Population Vaccinated Count of Vaccinated Proportion of Population Vaccinated
Allegany 27,408 38.923% 25,508 36.225% 3,100 4.402%
Anne Arundel 324,126 55.958% 299,928 51.78% 23,000 3.971%
Baltimore 466,806 56.42% 430,661 52.052% 34,438 4.162%
Baltimore City 292,605 49.302% 262,604 44.247% 18,763 3.161%
Calvert 48,400 52.31% 44,802 48.422% 3,551 3.838%
Caroline 12,883 38.565% 11,802 35.329% 2,928 8.765%
Carroll 92,302 54.796% 86,392 51.287% 9,298 5.52%
Cecil 43,206 42.007% 39,544 38.446% 3,350 3.257%
Charles 79,377 48.621% 72,244 44.252% 5,032 3.082%
Dorchester 13,783 43.168% 12,490 39.118% 2,115 6.624%
Frederick 146,060 56.275% 135,255 52.112% 16,037 6.179%
Garrett 11,025 37.999% 10,197 35.145% 858 2.957%
Harford 134,792 52.768% 125,481 49.123% 12,374 4.844%
Howard 220,657 67.751% 206,928 63.535% 13,724 4.214%
Kent 10,540 54.268% 9,735 50.124% 864 4.449%
Montgomery 684,236 65.123% 630,030 59.964% 45,156 4.298%
Prince George's 453,905 49.917% 404,642 44.499% 28,722 3.159%
Queen Anne's 25,942 51.492% 24,152 47.939% 2,409 4.782%
St. Mary's 53,417 47.059% 49,703 43.787% 3,279 2.889%
Somerset 9,696 37.851% 8,585 33.514% 935 3.65%
Talbot 20,836 56.039% 19,297 51.9% 2,828 7.606%
Washington 59,309 39.265% 54,692 36.208% 10,506 6.955%
Wicomico 43,563 42.046% 39,877 38.488% 3,766 3.635%
Worcester 28,965 55.408% 26,695 51.065% 2,393 4.578%
Unknown 296,749 N/A 243,622 N/A 21,773 N/A

By Race

Race First Dose Second Dose Single Dose
African-American 870,782 771,919 54,421
Asian 262,513 243,705 13,577
White 1,833,177 1,705,041 153,787
American Indian or Alaska Native 27,320 24,536 1,488
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 8,858 7,939 582
Other Race 292,790 249,953 18,613
Unknown Race 191,983 171,676 25,454
Federal Entities 113,658 100,265 3,277
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