Vaccine mandates, issues with vendors, and more put Maryland Secretary of Health Dennis R. Schrader under scrutiny as he updated Senate President Bill Ferguson (D – Baltimore City) and other members of the Senate Vaccine Oversight Workgroup on the state’s response to the Omicron variant late last week.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have reached an all-time high, surpassing 3,400 as of Monday. Last week, Gov. Larry Hogan issued a 30-day state of emergency and mobilized state resources to aid “virtually full” hospitals, according to the Maryland Hospital Association.
While Schrader ensured the Department of Health (DOH) is working closely with hospitals to handle the influx of COVID patients, senators at the meeting called for strategies to increase the state’s vaccination rate, particularly among children.
“I think we need a real aggressive strategy,” Sen. James Rosapepe (D – Prince George’s) said. “The most straightforward one is for the school systems who have the authority according to the Attorney General to put in their own vaccine mandates for COVID … if the health department would do it, I’d love you to do it, but if you’re not going to do it, I hope the local school systems do.”
Schrader said the department has planned an intensive COVID testing regiment within schools, including a $160 million allocation from federal funds, but did not disclose any plans for statewide mask or vaccine mandates.
“We are attempting to create a culture of education,” Schrader said. “We...
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