Montgomery County has opened preregistration at County-operated COVID-19 vaccine centers to all County residents 16-and-over. To register for a County-operated center go to http://www.govaxmoco.com. More vaccines have become available, so the County has opened a mass vaccination site on the campus of Montgomery College in Germantown.
A new vaccine center is now open in the County. It is the mass vaccination center on the campus of Montgomery College in Germantown. The County is operating the vaccine center through Wednesday, April 7. It is expected that the State will convert the site to a Maryland mass vaccination center beyond that date. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced last week that a State mass vaccination site will open at the Germantown campus starting next week. He did not establish a date that will happen. The site will be managed by the State and vaccinations will be available to all Marylanders.
Free Ride-On bus shuttle service is operating from the Shady Grove Metro station to the vaccination site at Montgomery College in Germantown. The service was established by the direction of County Executive Marc Elrich. Buses will run every 15 minutes from 8:30 a.m. until 30 minutes after the last vaccination (approximately 5 p.m.). Pick up the shuttle on the east side of the Shady Grove Metro. Buses will be marked “Vaccination Shuttle.”
The Germantown site replaces the County-operated site that had been at Quince Orchard High School. That site had to be closed as students have returned to classrooms around the County. Residents who received a first dose of a vaccine at Quince Orchard, but did not yet receive a second vaccine, will get that second dose at Montgomery College.
The County-operated vaccination site at Richard Montgomery High School also has closed. That clinic has moved to the Wheaton Library and Community Recreation Center.
As of Thursday morning, approximately one-third of all County residents have received at least one vaccine. State statistic shows more than 340,700 County residents (32.5 percent) have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. There are more than 185,700 fully vaccinated County residents (17.7 percent).
While the number of people being vaccinated is increasing daily, the average number of County residents with confirmed positive COVID-19 cases has also increased since 2021 low points in mid-March. COVID hospital bed-use rates are beginning to rise as well. See details on the County COVID-19 Data Dashboard.
Residents who have received at least their first vaccination can help others by canceling their preregistration for a County-run clinic. Completing the form will remove a person from the preregistration list.
As more residents are vaccinated, others have become more lenient about getting tested for the virus. However, it is still important to get tested because that helps health officials track the spread of COVID-19 in the community. There are free testing clinics every week throughout the County. Find a complete schedule of upcoming clinics at www.MoCOCOVIDTesting.org.
