About 25% of county residents have received first vaccine dose

Another 5,139 Anne Arundel County residents were vaccinated for COVID-19 Friday as the county approaches one-quarter of its total population receiving at least one dose.

So far, 24.8% of county residents have received their first dose of Pfizer or Moderna; about 14% of the population — 81,297 people — are fully vaccinated.

Statewide, 877,651 people are fully vaccinated. The state has administered roughly 92% of the vaccines on hand. Supplies are soon expected to increase dramatically as the state plans to open six more mass vaccination sites within the next month, including one at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium by April 12.

On Friday, the City of Annapolis stood up its weekly vaccination clinic at Pip Moyer Recreation Center, which will continue to operate in conjunction with the state’s vaccination site at the stadium, city officials said.

The clinic is open each Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Residents can pre-register through the Anne Arundel County Health Department portal at aacounty.org/covidvax.

The county continues to vaccinate in Phase 2A, which includes everyone age 60 or older. Phase 2B will begin Tuesday and includes Maryland residents age 16 or older with an underlying health condition that makes

COVID-19 infection riskier. Phase 2C, which includes everyone 55 and older as well as essential workers, will begin on April 13.

Everyone not covered in a previous category will be eligible for the vaccine on April 27.

New cases

Anne Arundel County reported 138 new coronavirus cases and no new deaths Friday. Maryland reported 1,366 new cases and 14 deaths.

The total number of confirmed infections since March is now 38,446, and at least 548 Anne Arundel County residents have died.

Fourteen others are suspected of having died of the virus but were never tested.

Across the state, at least 406,709 infections have been recorded since March 2020, and at least 8,061 Marylanders have died of the virus.

The county’s positivity rate went down slightly to 6.06% Friday, and the statewide rate dipped slightly from 4.64% to 4.58%.

The county case dropped to 20.15 cases per 100,000 people from 21.16 the day prior.

Statewide hospital bed occupancy continued to tick up Friday with 947 total beds filled — with 709 needing acute care, the most in over a month. Anne Arundel County hospital bed occupancy is not available on the weekends.