The Scramble for Vaccine and Herd Immunity
Jane Jewell • February 16, 2021
The roll-out of the covid-19 vaccine began shortly before Christmas 2020. Immediately, a national scramble to get and administer the vaccine began. States complained that they were not getting the weekly allotments of vaccine that they had been promised. Stories of ruined and discarded doses appeared as did announcments that a large reserve supply of vaccine would be released. It turned out there was no reserve supply.
In mid-January, Phase 1B of the roll-out started. That phase extended vaccine eligibility beyond medical personnel, first responders, and the residents and staff of nursing homes. Now older people and those at higher risk could — in theory — get the vaccine. In practice, however, people are spending long hours trying to navigate complicated online vaccine registration systems only to be told there are no appointments available. Calls to vaccine numbers have gone unanswered or just referred desperate people back to the same clogged registration systems. Those who did manage to get vaccine appointments often had those appointments canceled due to numerous problems including weather, lack of vaccine, lack of vaccine supplies such as needles, and lack of enough people trained to administer the shots. It’s been frustrating for all involved.
Despite this stumbling start to the massive national vaccination program, progress has been made and the kinks in the system are slowly being ironed out.
As of now, mid-February, over 30 million people in the U.S. have received a first dose and close to seven million of those have received their second dose. Only another 300 million people to go! Which means that in the U.S., we need 600 million doses of vaccine since it takes two shots to achieve a strong immune response.
The good news is that the federal government has now contracted for all 600 million doses. They are scheduled to arrive by late May or early June. With luck, they will all be in arms by fall 2021 and we can start getting back to normal.
Currently, as of February 11, U.S. providers are vaccinating approximately 1.5 million people per day. That’s well over the goal set by the Biden administration of one million shots per day during the first 100 days. It’s also a significant increase from the 1.1 million vaccinated per day at the beginning of February.
However, the U.S. is still far behind several other countries. Leading the world as of February 11 is Israel, where over 65 percent of the population has received at least one shot. The island nation of the Seychelles at 46 percent, the United Arab Republics at 44 percent, and the United Kingdom at 20 percent are all ahead of us. In the U.S., around 12 percent have been vaccinated.
In Maryland as of February 14, just under 880,000 vaccines have been given. That represents 639,502 initial shots and 237,830 second doses. That’s almost 11 percent of the state’s population with one dose and almost 4 percent with two shots. A little over 22,000 of those vaccinations have been on the Eastern Shore.
The number of vaccine doses allotted per week to each Maryland county is calculated based on population. Since most Eastern Shore counties have relatively small populations, all except Cecil and Wicomico counties receive the minimum number of first doses, which is 300 per week, supplies permitting. Cecil and Wicomico are each allotted 700 doses per week. Below is a table showing the number of weekly vaccine doses that each county is supposed to receive. Several times, the state has not received their full allotment from the federal government and thus the local deliveries of vaccine were reduced.
This is one time when having a smaller population actually confers a political advantage. Because 300 doses is the minimum distribution, that turns out to be a bigger allotment per person than in heavily populated areas. Thus some of the smaller Eastern Shore counties have been able to vaccinate a higher percentage of their people. As of February 14, Kent County at 20 percent has the highest percentage of its population vaccinated with at least a first dose. Worcester County is second with 17 percent vaccinated. Talbot County is third at just under 17 percent. The lowest vaccination rate in the state to date is Prince George’s County on the Western Shore at 5 percent. Charles County and Baltimore City, also on the other side of the bay, are second and third lowest at 7 percent and 9 percent respectively. Cecil and Somerset counties are the lowest on the Eastern Shore with 9 percent and 10 percent vaccinated.
The Maryland Department of Health requires a certain percentage of each week’s allotment to go to teachers and other education personnel. For the seven Eastern Shore counties receiving 300 doses per week, that means 100 doses per week to education. Other requirements may be in place. In Kent County for example, 50 more of those first doses are reserved for those in continuity of government. In addition, 75 doses are reserved for seniors needing assistance. The remaining 75 available vaccine appointments are posted publicly on Wednesday mornings. These appointments are generally snapped up within 10 minutes or less. Those snagging an appointment should check for requirements but generally a government ID, proof of age and residency, and insurance cards are required along with proof of employment if the person is eligible for the vaccine due to their job in an essential occupation.
Medical experts all agree that 70-90 percent of a population need to be vaccinated for herd immunity to be attained. So we still have a long way to go. But, barring unforeseen difficulties, it can be done by fall. So hang in there. For seniors experiencing difficulty getting an appointment for the vaccine, check out the list in this companion article.
Sources and more information:
“Rate of COVID-19 vaccination worldwide as of February 11, 2021, by country” (per 100 people)”
“See How the Vaccine Rollout Is Going in Your State” Updated Feb. 13, 2021
Maryland Department of Health; Updates on Maryland’s COVID-19 Vaccine Plan (Week 9 Allocation).
”With More Vaccines Secured, Biden Warns of Hurdles to Come”
“Vaccinations in Maryland” Maryland Department of Health Covid-19 Data Dashboard
Jane Jewell is a writer, editor, photographer, and teacher. She has worked in news, publishing, and as the director of a national writer's group. She lives in Chestertown with her husband Peter Heck, a ginger cat named Riley, and a lot of books.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.
Apparently, some people think that the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” is a foregone conclusion, and that the struggle over the budget and Trump’s agenda is over and done. Not true. On Sunday night, the bill — given the alternate name “Big Bad Bullsh*t Bill” by the Democratic Women’s Caucus — was voted out of the House Budget Committee. The GOP plan is to pass this legislation in the House before Memorial Day. But that’s not the end of it. As Jessica Craven explained in her Chop Wood Carry Water column: “Remember, we have at least six weeks left in this process. The bill has to: Pass the House, Then head to the Senate where it will likely be rewritten almost completely, Then be passed there, Then be brought back to the House for reconciliation, And then, if the House changes that version at all, Go back to the Senate for another vote.” She adds, “Every step of that process is a place for us to kill it.” The bill is over a thousand pages long, and the American people will not get a chance to read it until it has passed the House. But, thanks to 5Calls , we know it includes:
Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.
For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.
The 447th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned on April 8. This End of Session Report highlights the work Shore Progress has done to fight for working families and bring real results home to the Shore. Over the 90-day session, lawmakers debated 1,901 bills and passed 878 into law. Shore Progress and members supported legislation that delivers for the Eastern Shore, protecting our environment, expanding access to housing and healthcare, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Shore Progress Supported Legislation By The Numbers: Over 60 pieces of our backed legislation were passed. Another 15 passed in one Chamber but not the other. Legislation details are below, past the budget section. The 2026 Maryland State Budget How We Got Here: Maryland’s budget problems didn’t start overnight. They began under Governor Larry Hogan. Governor Hogan expanded the state budget yearly but blocked the legislature from moving money around or making common-sense changes. Instead of fixing the structural issues, Hogan used federal covid relief funds to hide the cracks and drained our state’s savings from $5.5 billion to $2.3 billion to boost his image before leaving office. How Trump/Musk Made It Worse: Maryland is facing a new fiscal crisis driven by the Trump–Musk administration, whose trade wars, tariff policies, and deep federal cuts have hit us harder than most, costing the state over 30,000 jobs, shuttering offices, and erasing promised investments. A University of Maryland study estimates Trump’s tariffs alone could cost us $2 billion, and those federal cuts have already added $300 million to our budget deficit. Covid aid gave us a short-term boost and even created a fake surplus under Hogan, but that money is gone, while housing, healthcare, and college prices keep rising. The Trump–Musk White House is only making things worse by slashing funding, gutting services, and eliminating research that Marylanders rely on. How The State Budget Fixes These Issues: This year, Maryland faced a $3 billion budget gap, and the General Assembly fixed it with a smart mix of cuts and fair new revenue, while protecting working families, schools, and health care. The 2025 Budget cuts $1.9 billion ($400 million less than last year) without gutting services people rely on. The General Assembly raised $1.2 billion in fair new revenue, mostly from the wealthiest Marylanders. The Budget ended with a $350 million surplus, plus $2.4 billion saved in the Rainy Day Fund (more than 9% of general fund revenue), which came in $7 million above what the Spending Affordability Committee called for. The budget protects funding for our schools, health care, transit, and public workers. The budget delivers real wins: $800 million more annually for transit and infrastructure, plus $500 million for long-term transportation needs. It invests $9.7 billion in public schools and boosts local education aid by $572.5 million, a 7% increase. If current revenue trends hold, no new taxes will be needed next session. Even better, 94% of Marylanders will see a tax cut or no change, while only the wealthiest 5% will finally pay their fair share. The tax system is smarter now. We’re: Taxing IT and data services like Texas and D.C. do; Raising taxes on cannabis and sports betting, not groceries or medicine; and Letting counties adjust income taxes. The budget also restores critical funding: $122 million for teacher planning $15 million for cancer research $11 million for crime victims $7 million for local business zones, and Continued support for public TV, the arts, and BCCC The budget invests in People with disabilities, with $181 million in services Growing private-sector jobs with $139 million in funding, including $27.5 million for quantum tech, $16 million for the Sunny Day Fund, and $10 million for infrastructure loans. Health care is protected for 1.5 million Marylanders, with $15.6 billion for Medicaid and higher provider pay. Public safety is getting a boost too, with $60 million for victim services, $5.5 million for juvenile services, and $5 million for parole and probation staffing. This budget also tackles climate change with $100 million for clean energy and solar projects, and $200 million in potential ratepayer relief. Public workers get a well-deserved raise, with $200 million in salary increases, including a 1% COLA and ~2.5% raises for union workers. The ultra-wealthy will finally chip in to pay for it: People earning over $750,000 will pay more, Millionaires will pay 6.5%, and Capital gains over $350,000 get a 2% surcharge. Deductions are capped for high earners, but working families can still deduct student loans, medical debt, and donations. This budget is bold, fair, and built to last. That’s why Shore Progress proudly supports it. Click on the arrows below for details in each section.
