Vaccination appointments may be postponed in Montgomery County this week
ROCKVILLE, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - FOX 5 has learned Montgomery County officials may have to postpone vaccination appointments later this week. The reason? Supply problems after last week's winter storms pounded much of the country.
In Rockville Monday, appointments went ahead as scheduled but that could change as we get into the middle part of this week – here’s why:
READ MORE: Severe weather still creating vaccination hurdles in the DC area
Dr. Raymond Crowel, the director of the Montgomery County Health Department, says the county has not received its supply of the vaccine because of winter storms that pounded airports that serve as shipping hubs.
"It would include everybody above 75, which include 75 years old, where instead of waiting on the limited number of doses that the county has available... might be able to go and get vaccinated with a larger supply the state has," said Dr. Crowel.
READ MORE: Snow, ice freezes COVID-19 vaccination appointments in Virginia, Maryland
Meanwhile, Gabe Albornoz, the Montgomery County Council vice president, has called a hearing Thursday to examine the school re-opening plan.
"My understanding is the school system is aware of which teachers have been vaccinated and is keeping a close track in partnership with our public health team and as I’ve mentioned this Thursday we’ll have a joint health education session," said Albornoz.
READ MORE: Maryland, Virginia vaccine shipments disrupted by severe winter weather
The goal is to avoid scenes like what happened a few days ago. County officials say long lines were due in part to people sharing internet links to registration sites with people who are ineligible to get the vaccine right now. Local officials say one single state registration site would help fix that.
Folks at the high school today say more vaccines and more vaccine sites are needed.
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When asked by FOX 5 why there is no mass vaccine site in Montgomery County, Governor Larry Hogan's communications director references the Six Flags site in Prince George's County saying, "We placed the state's first mass vaccination site in the National Capital Region, and thousands of Montgomery County residents have already taken advantage of it."