The County Executive says those who are not vaccinated need to roll up their sleeves.
Frederick, Md (KM) In the early days of the pandemic, there were more seniors contracting and dying from COVID-19, and not as many young people. But that situation seems to be reversing.
Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner says the county has been making progress in vaccinating older people, noting that more than 88% of seniors have received at least the first dose of the vaccines, and over 82% are fully vaccinated.
But now more people under 65 are contracting COVID. Gardner citied some statistics which show that two-thirds of coronavirus patients in Maryland hospitals are younger people. “So it is no coincidence with so many of Frederick County seniors vaccinated, that people we’re seeing in the hospital are trending younger,” she says.
And that’s not all. “We’ve observed over the past few weeks that the people who are testing positive are skewing younger,” says Gardner.
While more than half of Frederick County’s populations, 56%^, have received the first dose, and 46.87% are fully vaccinated, Gardner says the virus is still out there. “Our fire and EMS crews have transported seven COVID positive cases to the hospital in the past week, and an additional 18 people who showed symptoms. So again, we are still seeing cases of the virus and there still remains a risk for all the people in our community who are unvaccinated,” she says.
Gardner continues to strongly emphasize the importance of getting residents get vaccinated to protect the community as well as themselves from COVID-19. . “The good news is that we know that vaccines work. And again, I want to stress that, vaccines work,” she states. “We know this from studies. We know this from real life experience. And we know this from what we’re seeing locally.”
Anyone who wants to register for a vaccine appointment can call 301-600-7900. Spanish speakers can call 301-600-7905.
By Kevin McManus