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The top lawmakers on the House Health and Government Operations Committee continue to press the Hogan administration for data on who is getting COVID-19 in the state 鈥� and who is dying from the virus.
A spokesman for Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr (R) said recently that every COVID-19 death in Maryland during the month of June was attributable to the state鈥檚 unvaccinated population.
On June 6, Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci tweeted that 100% of COVID-19 deaths, 95% of new cases and 93% of hospitalizations 鈥渙ccurred in people who were unvaccinated.鈥�
But House Health and Government Operations Committee Chairwoman Shane E. Pendergrass (D-Howard) and Vice Chair Joseline Pe帽a-Melnyk (D-Prince George鈥檚) had worried those numbers would become a reality nearly two weeks before Hogan announced in mid-June he was ending Maryland鈥檚 COVID-19 state of emergency.
In a letter to Maryland Department of Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader dated June 3, Pendergrass and Pe帽a-Melnyk referenced a听Washington Post听听from late May which reported that, 鈥渁fter adjusting case data,鈥� the infection rate among the country鈥檚 unvaccinated population was much higher than what had been publicized, and the death rate was barely budging.
The articles also reported that Maryland鈥檚 unvaccinated young adult population was seeing infection rates that mirrored those of the surge seen nationally in January 2021.
鈥淲e believe that MDH needs to address and publicize the disparity in data between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations,鈥� the two lawmakers wrote to Schrader, requesting that the state begin to report COVID-19 infection and hospitalization data by separating out the vaccinated and unvaccinated cases.
They also requested that the state employ a public awareness campaign regarding COVID-19 transmission among the unvaccinated population by June 30.
In a followup letter that Pendergrass and Pe帽a-Melnyk sent to Schrader on Thursday, they noted that while Webster Ye, assistant secretary for health policy at the Maryland Department of Health, had promised to review their request from June 4, the state hadn鈥檛 鈥渄evised a way to implement鈥� it.
鈥淭hat was nearly seven weeks ago, and now the Delta variant is dominant,鈥� they wrote.
Pendergrass and Pe帽a-Melnyk again requested that the state launch a public health campaign aimed at educating residents of the risks of remaining unvaccinated and that the COVID-19 death data published on the state鈥檚听听be broken down by vaccinated and unvaccinated populations.
鈥淲e need to reach people who, in part because of lies and misinformation, have resisted the vaccine so far,鈥� they wrote. 鈥淭hose two numbers need to be the ones Marylanders see.鈥�
Schrader responded Friday that the Department of Health is 鈥渢aking numerous proactive steps to inform the nearly 1.2 million Marylanders who remain unvaccinated about how safe and effective the COVID-19 vaccines are and the jeopardy they are putting themselves, their families, and friends in,鈥� including:
- Using data to target outreach efforts in areas where large numbers of unvaccinated people live;
- Using television and radio spots, print news interviews and social media campaigns to spread the word in largely unvaccinated communities;
- Promoting information for organizations to request GoVax mobile clinics; and
- Partnering with trusted figures in communities with low vaccination rates to spread vaccine confidence.
But Pendergrass and Pe帽a-Melnyk questioned the source of the data in Ricci鈥檚 tweet, which he told听Maryland Matters听in an email came from the Department of Health.
鈥淎lthough we can鈥檛 find the source for these numbers on a website: 130 Marylanders died of Covid in June. 0 were vaccinated,鈥� they wrote.
Schrader confirmed Ricci鈥檚 tweeted data, adding that, as of Wednesday, 2,493 people had been diagnosed with post-vaccination infections, or confirmed cases that arise up to 14 days after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
鈥淲e are working to further refine and analyze our data, and hope to post additional information on the听听website as soon as it is available,鈥� he wrote.
