January 30th, 2021 by WCBC Radio

WBAL reports the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in Maryland is increasing by the day, but supply remains critically short — and the racial gap isn't closing. The rate of COVID-19 vaccinations continues at a tedious pace, so slow that one Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health expert said Thursday it's not yet possible to see a difference in the course of the pandemic.

"The rollout of these two very efficacious products have been halting and slow and challenging, and it has been too slow to have these vaccines — at least up until now — have an impact on protecting the American people from the pandemic," said Dr. Chris Beyrer, Desmond M. Tutu professor of public health and human rights.

People of color have been most affected by the coronavirus, but they continue to lag behind in the numbers of people vaccinated.