The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will hold a free, “back to-school” vaccination clinic for school-aged children (pre-K through high school) from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Friday, March 29, at the Dennis Avenue Health Center in Silver Spring.
Free vaccines are available to Montgomery County school-aged children who are missing any required immunizations. The Dennis Avenue Health Center is located at 2000 Dennis Ave., in Silver Spring.
“It is important to keep children healthy, and ensuring they are up to date on required immunizations should be a top priority,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “This is a great opportunity for parents to take advantage of the free vaccinations offered at this upcoming clinic.”
No appointment is needed. A parent must be present and bring an ID and immunization record if available.
The “back-to-school” vaccine offerings include:
Tdap
Meningococcal (MCV4)
Meningococcal B
Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
Varicella (chickenpox)
COVID-19
For questions relating to this upcoming clinic, contact the DHHS Immunization Program at 240-777-1050.
Visit the Immunization Program website for more information on locations where year-round appointments are available.
Maryland law requires students to be vaccinated against a variety of diseases. Visit the Maryland Department of Health’s website to learn more about vaccination requirements for the 2024-2025 school year.
A new COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available. Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new vaccine and the advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control recommended that anyone age 6 months and older get vaccinated. The new vaccines are a much closer match to currently circulating variants. They are updated versions of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
The vaccine is scheduled to be distributed to health care providers and pharmacies across the U.S. very soon.
Insurance companies will pay for vaccinations and shots that will primarily be available through private physicians’ offices and local pharmacies. The County’s Department of Health and Human Services will be working with Montgomery Cares clinics to provide doses to their clients without insurance.
There will be a limited number of County-sponsored clinics distributing the new vaccines, but they will be for residents who are uninsured. Information about those clinics will be available when vaccine is available.
For more information about the vaccine and how to obtain them, residents should call their health care provider or visit vaccines.gov. The website will provide information on local pharmacies offering the vaccinations by zip codes.
Montgomery County will hold a free flu vaccination clinic for children and adults from 10:30 a.m.-5:45 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17, at the Dennis Avenue Health Center, located at 2000 Dennis Ave. in Silver Spring. Adults and children ages six months and older are eligible to receive vaccinations at the clinic. COVID-19 vaccinations and testing also will be available. The vaccination clinic is free. Appointments are required.
An annual flu shot has been shown to reduce the risk of flu illness, hospitalization and death. While Montgomery County has likely passed “peak” flu season and cases are currently declining, health officials still recommend vaccinations as the best way to prevent the spread of seasonal flu. In addition to vaccination, good health habits can help stop the spread of germs and prevent illnesses like the flu.
Good health habits include:
Cover coughs or sneezes with a tissue, then throw the tissue away. Or cough or sneeze into the inside of the elbow.
Wash hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing and before eating. Alcohol hand sanitizer (minimum 60 percent alcohol) will help if soap and water are not available.
Avoid touching the eyes, nose or mouth. These are places germs can enter the body easily.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick.
Monitor yourself and family members for symptoms of fever which include chills, headache, sore throat, cough, body aches and vomiting or diarrhea.
If you are sick, stay home from work, school or other public places until you are feeling well.
See the County’s flu website for more information and to make an appointment. Flu vaccinations also are available through private health providers and at retail locations throughout the community. Find other locations to receive a flu vaccination at vaccines.gov.
The County, in partnership with Por Nuestra Salud y Bienestar, Proyecto Salud and Westfield Wheaton, will host a “BOO!sterama” from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29, to provide the new bivalent COVID-19 boosters to anyone age 5 and older who had their last vaccination at least two months ago. The shots are free and no appointment is needed.
The new Pfizer bivalent booster is approved for anyone 5 and older and the updated Moderna bivalent booster is approved for anyone 6 and older.
The event will be held at Westfield Wheaton Mall, outside of the Carter’s store on the second floor. Individuals who receive their booster at the event will be entered into a drawing to receive one of five $50 gift cards that can be used throughout Westfield Wheaton’s variety of retailers.
“Health officials continue to recommend the updated COVID-19 booster as a way of protecting people from the risk of serious illness from COVID-19,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “I am grateful and appreciative of our partnership with Westfield Wheaton to provide space, incentives and access to get our vaccines directly in front of potential recipients.”
In addition to the BOO!sterama event, the new bivalent booster shots are widely available at locations throughout the community. Make an appointment for the new bivalent booster shot or find other locations at GoVaxMoco.com.
For more information about Por Nuestra Salud Y Bienestar, visit its website.
Montgomery County is planning for the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 6 months to 4 years old. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now considering approval of vaccines for that age group. Currently, County-operated clinics are providing booster shots for all residents 5-and-over.
Once vaccines become available for children 6 months to 4 years, residents may find vaccines at the following locations (list subject to change):
Pediatrician offices
Participating pharmacies
County-operated clinics and partner agencies
Follow the County’s Department of Health and Human Services on Twitter (@MocoDHHS) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/mocdhhs) for updated information on when the vaccine will be available in Montgomery County. More information on appointments, as well as additional vaccine information, is at www.GoVaxMoco.com.
Vaccinations are important for every age group as they reduce the likelihood of a COVID-19 infection and the possibility of serious illness from an infection. Children who are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations are less likely to miss school or childcare due to illness or exposures.
COVID-19 booster shots for children ages 5-11 were recently approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and County-operated clinics are providing them for children who had their second dose at least five months ago. Clinics also are providing booster shots for all others.
County-operated clinics can be found at www.GoVaxMoco.com. Appointments are recommended, but walk-ins will be accommodated depending on vaccine supply.
County-operated clinics will be closed on Monday, June 20, as the County formally observes Juneteenth.
Our country passed a grim milestone this week as we surpassed 800,000 deaths nationwide from COVID. This number accounts for 15 percent of the world’s total fatalities from this virus even though our nation is only 4 percent of the global population. Even sadder, is that despite the roll-out of vaccines, the pace of COVID-19 deaths has increased. It took 119 days for the nation to go from 600,000 to 700,000 fatalities, but only 74 days to go from 700,000 to 800,000. And the seven-day death average in the United States has increased 28 percent from the week before. As one of the world’s wealthiest, most educated, and technologically advanced countries with an ample supply of vaccines, these figures are tragic.
While we are doing better in Montgomery County compared to the rest of the nation, we see that another winter surge in cases is upon us. The State’s database has been unavailable for 10 days and, because of this, I cannot provide an update on our test positivity and case rates; but we do have data about our hospitalization rates and outbreaks, and those numbers are headed in the wrong direction.
Hospitalizations Are Up and Outbreaks Are Increasing
Across the state hospitalizations have increased 44 percent since Dec. 3, and Montgomery County hospitalization rates are its highest rate since mid-April. There has also been a 29 percent increase in outbreaks statewide and 41 percent increase in school and childcare outbreaks.
Outbreaks are also increasing in Montgomery County public schools. Between Saturday, Dec. 4, and Sunday, Dec. 12, there were 518 new COVID-19 cases reported in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) system. For comparison purposes, there were 1,036 total cases in MCPS schools between the beginning of the school year and Nov. 19 - for the entire first two and half months of school.
I support the recommendation of our Public Health experts and the decision by MCPS to pause sports for 14 days in schools with outbreaks. This recommendation is based on an earlier recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to suppress person-to-person or close-contact spread between players for 14 days.
Please Keep Wearing Masks!
The Montgomery County Council’s Board of Health mask mandate remains in effect and should be with us through the rest of the year. However, this mandate to wear a mask indoors in publicly accessible areas is set to end once the County hits 85 percent of our total population fully vaccinated. As of this letter, we are at 82 percent fully vaccinated. I hope that before we hit that threshold that the County Council will reexamine all the data points and indicators at that time and make the best decisions for the health of our residents.
‘Boosterama’ Meets Super Saturday!
The best response to the newest surge is boosters, boosters, and more boosters. We have so far administered 267,000 additional doses and it is good news that 16-17-years-olds are now eligible for theirs as well. But we still have hundreds of thousands of residents due for their booster shot. The importance of these boosters cannot be emphasized enough, particularly as cases of the Omicron variant increase.
This weekend we are co-hosting - with Salud y Bienestar and Westfield Wheaton, a “Super Saturday Boosterama” on Saturday, Dec. 18 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to provide free COVID-19 boosters to shoppers. First doses for adults will also be available, but there will be no pediatric doses at the event. And no appointment is needed.
“Super Saturday” is one of the busiest shopping days of the year, and so we are taking our outreach efforts directly to the community. I want to thank Westfield Wheaton for offering a raffle of mall gift certificates for those who get vaccinated or boosted. I will be there, and I hope you will join me. Bring a friend or family member to come and get their shot!
311 Hits One Million Calls
This week we announced that 311 has fielded more than one million calls since the pandemic began in March 2020. I want to thank and congratulate our hard-working employees at Montgomery County’s 311 call center. The County has directed residents to call MC311 for assistance and the one-million-call milestone is an indication of the tremendous need that people have had for local government services throughout the pandemic.
MC311 has been an indispensable resource for residents seeking access to food, help paying rent, tree maintenance and numerous other County services. If you are need of information, resources, or assistance with Montgomery County government, MC311 is available 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., Monday – Friday, in hundreds of languages by dialing 3-1-1 in Montgomery County, 240-777-0311 from anywhere, 24/7 online at MC311.com, and you can tweet them @311MC311.
Faster Bus Service Arrives at the Germantown Transit Center
I am happy to see the progress we are making creating a quicker, more reliable, and more equitable bus system. This week, I joined Councilmember Craig Rice and our Department of Transportation (MCDOT) at the Germantown Transit Center to introduce our new red dedicated bus lanes. These bus lanes were implemented by MCDOT in less than 6 months and increase the speed and reliability of transit.
These new dedicated bus lanes are the debut project in the Bus Priority Program, which is part of our Capital Improvements Program. The project provides for targeted and quickly implementable improvements that make buses faster and more reliable. The new bus lanes are on a portion of Century Blvd, Aircraft Drive, and Crystal Rock Blvd., surrounding the Germantown Transit Center.
Transit is the backbone of a sustainable, equitable transportation system and a thriving local economy. An efficient bus system supports our environmental goals by offering an alternative to driving, reducing single-occupancy vehicles on our roadways. Buses also support our equity goals by providing accessibility for those who cannot afford cars and depend on buses to get them to jobs, schools, and other essential trips such as grocery stores. And a better bus system helps supports our County’s economic growth and retains and attracts businesses. I look forward to more exciting announcements about our Ride On Bus services in 2022.
Our Most Recent Budget Forum Focuses on Seniors
Over the last three months we have conducted budget forums around the county for upcoming FY23 budget. Previously, we held five forums, one with each of our five Regional Services Centers, and one additional forum, in Spanish, for our Latino community. This week, we held our seventh budget forum at Leisure World to engage and listen to residents from our senior and aging community. We also hosted two in-person viewing locations at the North Potomac Senior Center and the Margaret Scheweinhaut Senior Center as well as streamed online and over County Cable Montgomery.
The foundation of our government’s success is due to how we prioritize our budget expenditures and investments. I enjoyed each of these forums and found the feedback and engagement from all of attendees valuable as we head into our final FY23 budget. I will be submitting to the County Council the FY23 capital budget on Jan. 18 and the operating budget on March 15; and if you would like to share your thoughts, ideas, or concerns about our budget, you can reach us at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/exec/Contactcex.aspx. You can watch the Leisure World forum here. You can watch the previous forums by going to the County’s YouTube channel. As an example, here is the Eastern Montgomery Regional Service Center FY23 Hybrid Operating Budget Forum.
New Leadership Joins the County
I want to thank the County Council for confirming two important appointments this week that will greatly assist our public health and economic development efforts. Dira Treadvance was confirmed as our new chief of Children, Youth and Family Services and Tom Lewis was confirmed as our development ombudsman.
Dira Treadvance is bringing years of leadership and experience from working for New York City. She is a compassionate health professional dedicated to the health and welfare of infants, children, and young adults. Dira is committed to innovative approaches and is experienced in bringing disparate groups together and creating common cause with community partners.
Tom Lewis brings decades of executive experience to our economic-development efforts. He was most recently the vice president for government and community affairs for Johns Hopkins University and was formerly the Chief of Staff to Maryland House of Delegates Speaker Michael Busch. I look forward to having Tom as part of the team in our ongoing effort to create and sustain purposeful development.
I am excited to welcome Dira and Tom to Montgomery County and look forward to working with them.
#KeepingMoneyInMontgomery
Throughout this holiday season, I have been visiting and promoting our small and minority-owned retail businesses around the County and encouraging everyone to shop local. As we head into the busiest shopping week of the year, we want you to continue to #KeepingMoneyInMontgomery.
For every $100 you spend at locally owned businesses, $68 stays in our County as compared to only $43 for national chain establishments. Buying from a locally owned business also conserves energy and resources in the form of less fuel for transportation and less packaging.
The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services is now providing booster shots to an expanded group of eligible residents. The County is offering the boosters based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated authorization of booster doses. The new eligibility guideline includes certain people who have previously received the Moderna vaccine, and most people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,
Residents who are eligible for booster doses can get vaccinated at pharmacies, through private providers, or at County and other health care-sponsored clinics. Eligible individuals who would like a specific vaccine as their booster dose should check with the vaccination site before making an appointment to ensure availability.
“We know that the information can be confusing to residents, because there are multiple steps to the approval process for the vaccines, as well as differing eligibility criteria depending on which vaccine is recommended,” said Acting Health Officer James Bridgers, “and that is why we ask everyone to review the information carefully and ask their doctor or health provider if they have questions about their specific medical situation.”
The CDC announcement provided the following information on eligibility for a booster dose of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine, recommending that additional groups get COVID-19 booster doses to provide additional protection.
Eligibility for those who received two doses of the Moderna vaccine:
Anyone 65 years and older.
Adults 18 and older who are at high risk of severe illness because of an underlying condition.
Adults 18 and older who are at risk of illness because of their job.
Adults 18 and older who live in an institutional setting.
Received their second dose of the vaccine at least six months ago.
Eligibility for those who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine:
Anyone 18 years and older.
Received their Johnson & Johnson dose at least two months ago.
Individuals eligible for a booster shot are authorized to receive any of the available COVID-19 vaccines as their booster.
Residents will be required to self-certify that they fall into one of the eligible groups when making an appointment. Appointments for County-operated and many private providers are made on the Maryland Department of Health’s PrepMod scheduling platform. Visit Maryland’s vaccine locator to find pharmacies, County-operated sites and other providers offering booster doses.
If you need help to make an appointment at a County-operated vaccination site, please call the COVID-19 call center at 240-777-2982 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Montgomery County is moving closer to having 70 percent of all residents receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This week, the State initiated a new incentive for those 12-17 to get vaccinated and become eligible for college scholarships of up to $50,000.
Maryland statistics as of today, Thursday, July 8, show that more than 709,500 County residents (67.5 percent of all residents) have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. More than 645,400 County residents (61.4 percent of all residents) are fully vaccinated.
Residents can walk into County-run clinics without an appointment.
Youth ages 12 to 15 no longer need to preregister for appointments. Parents/guardians can make appointments for them at clinics using the Pfizer vaccine.
The State announced this week the launch of the $1 million “VaxU Scholarship Promotion,” an incentive program to encourage 12- to 17-year-olds to get vaccinated. Winners will receive a $50,000 scholarship, which covers the equivalent of full tuition and fees at a public, in-state institution of higher education. The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) and the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) will jointly administer the initiative, which will select 20 winners through random drawings between now and Labor Day.
Beginning July 12, the VaxU Scholarship Promotion will randomly select two winners per week for eight weeks. On Monday, Sept. 6—Labor Day—four winners will be selected. To qualify for the scholarship, students must live and be vaccinated in Maryland.
The award will be distributed in the form of a Prepaid College Trust or College Investment Plan from Maryland529, and can be utilized in accordance with the guidelines for those programs:
A four-year Maryland Prepaid College Trust Account will be funded for a winner who is between the ages of 12-14 at the time of the drawing.
A Maryland College Investment Plan contribution will be awarded to individuals between the ages of 15-17 at the time of the drawing.
Winners will be selected utilizing the same random number generator used for the $2 Million VaxCash Promotion. Similar to that promotion, the winners of the VaxU promotion will be permitted to remain anonymous. However, the city or county of the winner will be published.
Federal COVID-19 relief funds will be used to cover the cost of the program. For more information, visit the MHEC VaxU Scholarship Promotion website.
All Marylandresidents 16-and-over will be eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccination at all State-operated, County-operated and privately operated vaccine clinics in the State starting Monday, April 12, by order of Governor Larry Hogan. Covered by the order is the new State-supported mass vaccination center at the Germantown campus of Montgomery County, which officially opened today, Thursday, April 8. Eligibility does not equal an immediate appointment.
According to State statistics updated this morning, 38 percent of County residents have received at least one dose of vaccine and 21.5 percent are fully vaccinated.
Residents are encouraged to preregister with the State and with the County—and advised to take the first vaccination appointment they are offered at any clinic.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich joined Governor Hogan and members of the County Council for a tour of the new Germantown site on Wednesday, April 7. As a State-supported site, the Germantown center 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 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, which was closed as students 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, April 8, more than 398,600 Montgomery County residents (38 percent) have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. There are more than 226,100 fully vaccinated County residents (21.5 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.
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.
Maryland State statistics on COVID-19 as of this morning, Thursday, March 11, show that 207,500 Montgomery County residents (19.7 percent of the population) have received their first vaccine dose and more than 105,200 residents (10 percent of the population) are fully vaccinated. The County is now offering vaccinations at County health department clinics to residents in Priority Groups 1B and 1C—which includes those ages 65-74.
While vaccination rates are going up, confirmed COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 testing positivity rates and COVID-19 hospital bed use rates are going down. These figures are shown on the County COVID-19 Data Dashboard.
Navigate the charts with the arrows in the Vaccine Distribution Dashboard.
County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) clinic appointments are currently open for Groups 1A (all tiers), 1B (all tiers) and 1C, Tier 1 (ages 65-74). Residents in these groups who have preregistered will get an invitation to make an appointment based on vaccine availability.
DHHS vaccination clinics are by appointment only. There are no walk-in vaccination sites.
Last week, the County’s health department received 1,600 doses of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson (J & J) vaccine. Of the three vaccines available in the U.S., the J & J vaccine is the only one that requires only a single dose. It is unknown when the County will receive additional J & J vaccines. Since the arrival of J & J doses, more than 1,500 essential workers, some home-bound seniors, residents of homeless shelters and other priority groups have received this vaccine.
The J & J vaccine has been shown to be 100 percent effective in preventing COVID-19-related hospitalization and death. It is highly effective in preventing severe disease and also has shown protection against new variants of COVID-19. The J & J vaccine is a critical additional tool for fighting the COVID health crisis.
When a resident receives an invitation from DHHS to make an appointment at a County-operated clinic, they are told which vaccine is being offered at the clinic. County health officials urge residents to get vaccinated with whatever vaccine is offered because they are all safe and effective. However, if a resident does not want to receive the vaccine offered to them, they can decline the invitation and their preregistration information will be put back into the queue for a future vaccination opportunity.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fully vaccinated people can safely resume some activities with other fully vaccinated people. A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last required dose of vaccine (two doses for Moderna and Pfizer, one for J & J). The current guidelines say that:
Fully vaccinated people should continue to take COVID-19 precautions when in public, when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple other households and when around unvaccinated people who are at high risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19.
Montgomery County is making progress at vaccinating more residents, but it is still important for everyone to continue the disease prevention guidelines that have been practiced for the past year.
Preregistration information for getting COVID-19 vaccines from DHHS:
Everyone must preregister for vaccinations. As vaccine doses are available, residents who have preregistered will be contacted and offered an appointment for a vaccination.
Preregistration is not a vaccination appointment—it places a person in the queue by priority group. When vaccine doses arrive, DHHS contacts residents from the preregistration list and invites them to make an appointment.
Once preregistered, individuals will receive an invitation to make an appointment by email directly from DHHS. The invitation will come from c19vaccination@montgomerycountymd.gov. Be sure to monitor junk and/or spam folders, in case the messages go there instead of an inbox.
Do not forward appointment scheduling links to friends and family. These links are intended only for the direct recipient.
Residents who have received a first dose from a DHHS-sponsored clinic will receive an email approximately four to seven days before the second dose is due with an invitation to make an appointment. The Moderna vaccine (which most DHHS clinics use) recommends a second dose be given 28 days after the first dose. Per the CDC, there is no maximum interval between the first and second dose, but we want to provide second doses as close to 28 days as possible.
In addition to the clinics operated by DHHS, hospitals, healthcare systems and several private pharmacies have COVID-19 vaccines available to the public. These clinics follow the State guidelines, and not the rules issued by the County, so they may be vaccinating other priority groups in addition to Groups 1A and 1B. Preregistration on Montgomery County’s vaccine page does not mean a person is registered with other locations. Vaccine supply continues to be limited at all venues in Montgomery County.
Maryland also has multiple mass vaccination sites, although there are none in Montgomery County. Information and registration for those venues are available on Maryland’s GoVax website.
Telephone assistance for preregistering is available for people who do not have easy access to the Internet.
Residents are encouraged to assist their neighbors, family members and friends to preregister if they need help.
Those 75 years and older without Internet access can call the Preregistration Helpline at 240-777-2982 for assistance in preregistering. The helpline is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and bilingual staff members (English/Spanish) are available. Call takers can also access a translation line to help callers with many other languages.
The line is for preregistration only.
General questions about vaccinations and COVID-19 can be directed by phone to 240-777-1755 seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
