Baltimore Sun
As health officials face skepticism about rushed COVID-19 vaccines, Maryland will conduct outreach efforts to promote trust in a vaccine when a safe one becomes available, the state’s deputy health secretary said Wednesday.
Dr. Jinlene Chan told a panel of state lawmakers the health department recognizes that historically there are groups that may be more hesitant to accept a vaccination than others.
“Our outreach efforts, we absolutely recognize, will need to be culturally competent and reach minority populations and take into account those different populations throughout the state in terms of communication, in terms of education and not just language appropriate, but also culturally appropriate,” Chan said.
She said the health department will have two advisory groups. One will examine vaccine data as it is released. Another will include input from representatives from minority and faith-based community groups.
“Pulling that together is important, because we do want to make sure that we have important minority, faith-based community groups represented, so that we can work with them to understand where the questions are and what the needs are of the communities that we serve,” Chan said.
Robert Neall, the state’s health secretary, told lawmakers that the state submitted a plan for distributing a vaccine in Maryland this month to federal officials. He said the plan will evolve as more information becomes available.
“We need more information from the federal government on distribution cost-sharing and federally provided supplies,” Neall said. “That’s sketchy right now and it’s really one of my biggest worries, because if the federal government says they’re going to provide something and then change their mind, we might have supply-chain issues.”
Neall said health care providers are currently registering with the state to administer a COVID-19 vaccine. He said local health departments, hospital systems and pharmacies will also be key partners for vaccine administration. Continue Reading