Montgomery County Begins Vaccinating Essential Worker Groups and Residents 65 to 74 Years Old; Addition of Third Vaccine Expands Opportunities for Vaccinations

For Immediate Release: Thursday, March 4, 2021

Vaccination clinics operated by the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (Health Department) are now offering COVID-19 vaccine to residents 65 to 74 years old, as well as essential workers, a priority group which includes transit workers, teachers, child care workers and individuals with developmental disabilities as vaccine supply allows. Community providers, including hospitals and retailers continue to vaccinate residents 65 and older, as well as educators and child care workers. The community-based providers are independent of the County-operated vaccination clinics.

People 75 and older are still being vaccinated as the County clinics begin vaccinating other priority groups. In the past week, the remaining preregistered residents 75 and older who records show have not been vaccinated, were contacted by email and through text messages and phone calls to get them vaccinated. Outreach continues to ensure that all residents 75 and older who want to be vaccinated have an opportunity to schedule an appointment at a County-operated clinic.

More than 165,000 Montgomery County residents have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and more than 82,000 Montgomery County residents have been fully vaccinated. The County’s Health Department is receiving an average of 5,000 doses per week and is offering appointments to residents who have preregistered for a vaccination, as well as working with groups of essential workers to identify and prioritize those needing vaccinations. 

This week, the County received 1,600 doses of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine and this means that residents will have expanded choices. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one dose and in clinical studies has been shown to be 85 percent effective in preventing severe disease across all regions studied and showed protection against COVID-19 related hospitalization and death, beginning 28 days after vaccination. Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was tested after the new coronavirus variants appeared.

To focus the limited vaccine supply that the health department receives, residents must preregister on the County’s COVID-19 vaccine website. When eligible and when vaccine supply allows, residents who have preregistered will receive a direct link from [email protected] with an invitation to make an appointment. People who have not received a direct link from the County and show up to a clinic operated by the health department will not be served. More detailed information about the priority groups is available on the COVID-19 vaccine website. Residents can also sign up on the vaccine website for weekly email or text vaccine updates.

For the latest COVID-19 updates, visit the County’s COVID-19 website and follow Montgomery County on Facebook @MontgomeryCountyInfo and Twitter @MontgomeryCoMD.

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Release ID: 21-159
Media Contact: Mary Anderson 240-777-6507