Baltimore 10% short of COVID-19 vaccination goal to lift indoor mask order – WBAL TV Baltimore

Baltimoreans are going to have to keep wearing face masks indoors through at least the middle of the summer.|| COVID-19 updates | Maryland's latest numbers | Get tested | Vaccine Info ||Mayor Brandon Scott on Friday announced more than 55% of city's adult population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine -- that's a 1% gain in the span of one week -- about 4,400 additional doses administered."We are making steady progress toward our goal of 65% of the adult vaccination before the health commissioner lifts the mask requirement for indoor spaces," Scott said.Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa said the city will keep its indoor mask order in place until at least 65% of adults have received at least one or the single-dose vaccine."Reaching our 65% benchmark to lift the indoor mask mandate, as well as a longer term goal of 80% of all residents being vaccinated by early 2022, means that we need to acknowledge the difference between earlier vaccination efforts and where we are today," Dzirasa said. "There are more transmissible variants and we're keenly aware of the possibility of a fall or winter surge of coronavirus cases if we don't reach a majority of the city's residents with vaccines. This summer is the time to get vaccinated."If the city continues at its current pace of vaccinations, Dzirasa said she estimates it could be mid-July when the city reaches its goal."We're happy that people are getting vaccinated. We want more folks to get vaccinated, and I think that's clear," Scott said. "We are taking the vaccine to those communities, working with people so that we're eliminating every excuse to allow people to get vaccinated."Watch the mayor's news conference in its entirety:And Baltimore City is not alone, according to Dr. Bill Moss, the executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health's International Vaccine Access Center."The pace of vaccination in the United States has decreased," Moss said.Moss said the pace is slowing down as mass vaccination sites close and mobile clinics take over, racing to reach the vaccine benchmarks from City Halls 65% to President Joe Biden's 70% by July 4."That is an arbitrary benchmark. It doesn't have biological significance, but it's an important one," Moss said.Dzirasa said the city will continue to launch pop-up and mobile vaccination sites through the summer."The pop-up and mobile sites planned for the summer will see our success measured in the hundreds and thousands per week, and less so in the ten-thousands," Dzirasa said. The mayor said the city is focused on getting the vaccine to homebound and vulnerable populations.There were no clear plans detailed Friday by city leaders to boost the number or frequency of mobile clinics and pop-up sites, but they did announce the city's large-scale vaccination clinic at Baltimore City Community College is closing.

Baltimoreans are going to have to keep wearing face masks indoors through at least the middle of the summer.

|| COVID-19 updates | Maryland's latest numbers | Get tested | Vaccine Info ||

Mayor Brandon Scott on Friday announced more than 55% of city's adult population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine -- that's a 1% gain in the span of one week -- about 4,400 additional doses administered.

"We are making steady progress toward our goal of 65% of the adult vaccination before the health commissioner lifts the mask requirement for indoor spaces," Scott said.

Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa said the city will keep its indoor mask order in place until at least 65% of adults have received at least one or the single-dose vaccine.

"Reaching our 65% benchmark to lift the indoor mask mandate, as well as a longer term goal of 80% of all residents being vaccinated by early 2022, means that we need to acknowledge the difference between earlier vaccination efforts and where we are today," Dzirasa said. "There are more transmissible variants and we're keenly aware of the possibility of a fall or winter surge of coronavirus cases if we don't reach a majority of the city's residents with vaccines. This summer is the time to get vaccinated."

If the city continues at its current pace of vaccinations, Dzirasa said she estimates it could be mid-July when the city reaches its goal.

"We're happy that people are getting vaccinated. We want more folks to get vaccinated, and I think that's clear," Scott said. "We are taking the vaccine to those communities, working with people so that we're eliminating every excuse to allow people to get vaccinated."

Watch the mayor's news conference in its entirety:

And Baltimore City is not alone, according to Dr. Bill Moss, the executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health's International Vaccine Access Center.

"The pace of vaccination in the United States has decreased," Moss said.

Moss said the pace is slowing down as mass vaccination sites close and mobile clinics take over, racing to reach the vaccine benchmarks from City Halls 65% to President Joe Biden's 70% by July 4.

"That is an arbitrary benchmark. It doesn't have biological significance, but it's an important one," Moss said.

Dzirasa said the city will continue to launch pop-up and mobile vaccination sites through the summer.

"The pop-up and mobile sites planned for the summer will see our success measured in the hundreds and thousands per week, and less so in the ten-thousands," Dzirasa said.

The mayor said the city is focused on getting the vaccine to homebound and vulnerable populations.

There were no clear plans detailed Friday by city leaders to boost the number or frequency of mobile clinics and pop-up sites, but they did announce the city's large-scale vaccination clinic at Baltimore City Community College is closing.

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Baltimore 10% short of COVID-19 vaccination goal to lift indoor mask order - WBAL TV Baltimore