COVID-19 In Maryland: State Reaches 80% Vaccination Milestone

ANNAPOLIS Md. (WJZ) -- Gov. Larry Hogan announced Sunday morning that according to official CDC data, the state of Maryland has achieved the milestone of vaccinating 80% of adults with at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

"After vaccinating 70 percent of Maryland adults by Memorial Day-months ahead of the goal set by President Biden-we have achieved another major milestone by vaccinating 80 percent of all adults by Labor Day," Governor Hogan said.

"As one of the most vaccinated states, our health metrics are among the lowest in America, and we are much better prepared to withstand the significant summer surge of the Delta variant, which many other states with lower vaccination rates are now experiencing. The vaccines are very safe, they are very effective, they are completely free, and they are widely available nearly everywhere."

This comes as Maryland reported 990 new COVID-19 cases and five new deaths, according to state health department data released Sunday morning.

Doctors say the new cases are fueled by dangerous strains targeting the unvaccinated. During an August press conference, Gov. Larry Hogan said the Delta variant, a strain that is reportedly two to four times more contagious than the original virus strain, accounts for nearly every new confirmed case in Maryland.

Hogan also said less than 0.01% of vaccinated Marylanders have been hospitalized with COVID-19, and less than 0.001% of vaccinated Marylanders have died from the virus.

More than 3.6 million Maryland adults are fully vaccinated. State officials also reported that the state positivity rose to 5.08%.

Hospitalizations decreased by eight to 647. Of those hospitalized, 481 remain in acute care and 166 remain in the ICU as of Sunday.

Since the pandemic began, there were 486,968 total confirmed cases and 9,721 deaths.

There are 3,669,581 Marylanders fully vaccinated. The state has administered 7,429,984 doses. Of those, 3,760,403 are first doses with 5,260 administered in the past 24 hours. They have given out 3,388,563 second doses, 4,730 in the last day.

The state began to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine again in April after the CDC and FDA lifted their pause on the vaccine due to a rare blood clot found in some women.

A total of 281,018 Marylanders have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, 185 in the last day.

In August, the state launched a post-vaccination infections dashboard that is updated every Wednesday. There have been 7,033 total cases among fully vaccinated Marylanders as of last Wednesday, August 18.

Of those cases, 627 vaccinated Marylanders were hospitalized, representing 5% of all Covid cases hospitalized in the state. 71 fully vaccinated Marylanders have died, representing 4.6% of lab-confirmed Covid deaths in the state.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: 

• Coronavirus Resources: How To Get Help In Maryland
• TIMELINE: Coronavirus In Maryland, Tracking The Spread And Vaccinations
• Latest coronavirus stories from WJZ
• Latest CDC Guidelines

Here's a breakdown of the numbers:

By County

By Age Range and Gender

By Race and Ethnicity

In:
• Maryland
• COVID-19