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Marylanders who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 account for nearly all of the state鈥檚 recent coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths, Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader told lawmakers on Monday.
The numbers 鈥� which Schrader called 鈥渧ery sobering鈥� 鈥� serve as a reminder that going unvaccinated is dangerous and that the pandemic is not over.
The state鈥檚 overall coronavirus picture is significantly improved in recent months, with deaths, hospitalizations and case-counts plummeting, thanks largely to Maryland鈥檚 robust vaccination efforts, officials said.
But Schrader told the state Senate鈥檚 Vaccination Workgroup that since May 10, unvaccinated people account for 97% of the COVID-19 caseload, 89% of the hospitalizations and 89% of the deaths.
鈥淭here are approximately 1.4 million Marylanders [age] 12 and older who are still unvaccinated and remain in serious risk of contracting and being hospitalized by COVID-19,鈥� he told the panel.
Maryland has administered more than 6.8 million vaccinations, representing 72% of the 12-and-older population and 91% of seniors. The state is one of just three states 鈥� Vermont and South Dakota are the others 鈥� to see cases drop to below one for every 100,000 residents, Schrader said.
Health department staff are poring through survey data to determine why vaccine hesitancy remains a problem, he added.
鈥楶eople move around鈥�
Around the U.S., health experts continue to track a red-blue divide in vaccination rates, with states that former President Trump carried lagging behind those won by President Biden.
础听Maryland Matters听analysis of the听听revealed a similar pattern.
Seven of Maryland鈥檚 nine most-vaccinated counties, and 10 of its 15 most-vaccinated subdivisions, were carried by Joe Biden in November.
By contrast, the nine least-vaccinated counties were all carried by Donald Trump.
Counties that Trump won have an average first-dose rate of 48.1% of their population. Counties that went for Biden have a first-dose average of 58.0%.
Analysts in the Department of Legislative Services found that eight counties have both historically low vaccination rates and low 鈥渞ecent鈥� vaccination rates, a potential sign of entrenched resistance.
Seven of the eight went for Trump in November, and the 8th, Kent, went for Biden by a narrow margin, 49% to 48%.
The patterns mirror a听Maryland Matters听.
Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Howard), a physician and a member of the vaccination oversight panel, said in an interview that it鈥檚 鈥渘o surprise鈥� that rural communities, where notions of 鈥渞ugged individualism鈥� are not uncommon, continue to lag behind.
鈥淪ome of these locations that are more distant are less inclined to grasp the need for the common, community good and lean more towards individual freedom, liberty, choices, and more of a Libertarian streak,鈥� he said.
With the highly-contagious 鈥淒elta鈥� variant spreading in growing numbers, national health experts have said that听听to vaccination efforts poses a potentially broad threat to public health.
鈥淲hen you have pockets of the country and pockets of the state where there are high levels of unvaccinated individuals, [it] means that there is greater risk of the spread of COVID,鈥� Lam said. 鈥淎nd these people move around.鈥�
The lawmaker said that clusters of non-vaccinated individuals are a particular risk to people who are immuno-compromised and may not be able to get vaccinated.
Sen. Addie Eckhardt (R-Middle Shore), a member of the vaccine workgroup and a nurse before entering politics, lamented that she has had trouble convincing some of her relatives in Western Maryland and on the west coast to get vaccinated.
鈥淚鈥檝e talked until I鈥檓 blue in the face,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 gotten to be a family, tense issue, because there is some mind set out there in many people that this is not safe [and] there鈥檚 not enough information.鈥�
Schrader appeared reluctant to get drawn into a lengthy discussion about vaccine hesitancy, but he stressed that the state is committed to figure out how to 鈥渂reak into that.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e not giving up on any county,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e really believe that we鈥檝e got a lot more work to do 鈥� and we鈥檙e not going to slow down or stop until we get as many people vaccinated as possible.鈥�
