November 19th, 2021 by WCBC Radio

After the U.S. has expanded the availability of COVID-19 boosters to all adults, Gov. Larry Hogan has announced Maryland will follow suit.

“As of today, Maryland has already administered more than 800,000 booster shots," Hogan said in a news release. "We are immediately expanding our campaign further to include all adults.  As the holiday season approaches, with more travel and more gatherings, we are encouraging all Marylanders to get a booster shot and maintain their immunity. The state has a robust network of vaccination providers, and we continue to have both the supply and the capacity to provide a booster shot to anyone who needs one.”

On Thursday, Maryland announced that more than nine million COVID-19 shots had been administered, and to date, 802,987 booster shots are included in that count.  Nearly half of the state’s eligible seniors have received a booster shot.

This expansion will help further the state’s public health goal of maintaining immunity against severe COVID-19 and the Maryland Department of Health has issued a new bulletin directing all providers to administer upon request a booster dose of any FDA approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccine to individuals 18 years and older who completed a primary series of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago.

Individuals who received a primary series of the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine at least two months ago continue to be eligible for a booster dose. 

State health officials continue to strongly recommend that the following individuals get a booster shot as soon as possible: