Maryland residents 75 years and older started receiving Covid-19 vaccinations this week as the state entered Phase 1B of its plan to protect the population from the disease.

Gov. Larry Hogan, Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford and their wives received their first doses of the Moderna vaccine during a news conference Monday, the first day of Phase 1B. Continuity of government is part of this phase of the rollout.

“Getting vaccinated is the only way to keep you, your family, your friends, and your community healthy and safe, and it is absolutely critical to preventing more illnesses, more hospitalizations, and more deaths,” Hogan said. “It’s the only way to end the damage to our economy and to bring this pandemic to an end.”

But the Washington Post reported Tuesday that Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson said that unless the state makes better progress on administering vaccines, Hogan’s nominee for health secretary will not receive a Senate confirmation hearing.

“Maryland is ineffectively administering vaccines in an unaccountable manner,” Ferguson said during a virtual news conference. “I don’t think it would be fair to move forward.”

Ferguson said state lawmakers are getting calls from constituents who are experiencing “unacceptable levels of confusion” over where and how to get vaccinated, according to the Post.

Wicomico County Health Department officials said they are currently vaccinating people in Phases 1A and 1B. All appointments for this week are full.

The vaccine supply is limited and once additional supplies are received, the Health Department will send out appointment registration links to those who have already sent in their information.

Wicomico County residents who are in Phase 1A or Phase 1B should email a request to Wicomico.COVIDvax@maryland.gov.

The Health Department will then email a link to make an appointment. Family members may assist those over 75 to register online for an appointment.

“Please be patient as we endeavor to keep up with the community’s vaccine demand,” the department said in a news release.

As of Tuesday, the state reported that 5,772 people in Wicomico County — 5.557 percent of the population — had been vaccinated and 821 of them have received a second dose.

In addition to those 75 years and older, Phase 1B includes people in assisted living, group homes, high-risk incarcerated individuals and teachers.

Next phase Monday

Next Monday, Jan. 25, the state will enter Phase 1C, which includes Maryland residents ages 65 to 74; public health and safety workers not covered in Phase 1A; and essential workers in lab services, food and agriculture production, manufacturing, the U.S. Postal Service, public transit, and grocery stores.

Scheduling for Phase 1C in Wicomico County had not started as of Tuesday.

Hogan said more pharmacies will begin offering the vaccine next week and the state is working with local jurisdictions to open mass vaccination sites.

Last week, the governor announced a pilot program for Covid-19 vaccines to be administered at Giant and Walmart pharmacies beginning the week of Jan. 25.

This initial program will be available at 22 Giant locations across the state, as well as 10 Walmart locations in Western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore.

As the federal allocation of vaccines increases, the state will bring more pharmacies and more locations online, he said.

Through the Maryland Responds Medical Reserves Corps, state health officials have recruited and allocated 771 volunteers for county vaccination clinics.

Ten jurisdictions across the state have taken advantage of this program, including Somerset and Wicomico counties on the Lower Shore.

Moving into Phases 1A and 1B is an aggressive plan and will allow Maryland residents to be vaccinated months ahead of schedule, the governor said.

As of Monday morning, 255,110 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered, and the state is doling out vaccines at a faster pace than it is currently receiving them from the federal government, Hogan said.

The state currently has a limited supply of vaccine and receives 10,000 doses per day, but Hogan said second shots will be available to everyone who gets the initial dose.

Maryland will need 12 million doses in order to give two shots to all residents. So far, the state has received only 4.5 percent of what it needs, he said.

Currently, vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech have been approved for use in the United States. Both require two doses administered four weeks apart.

The vaccines are safe and are effective at preventing serious illness with Covid-19.

There are some mild side effects associated with the vaccines, including injection-site pain, fatigue, fever, muscle aches, headaches and chills.

For more information on Covid-19 and the vaccines, visit coronavirus.maryland.gov.

The numbers

As of Tuesday, Jan. 19, Wicomico County has had 5,791 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 103 deaths.

The patient count in Somerset is now 2,109 with 24 deaths.

Additional cases have also been confirmed in Worcester County, which now reports 2,831 people as having the virus and 68 deaths.

Dorchester County counts 1,864 cases with 26 deaths. There are 1,665 reported cases in Caroline County with 13 deaths.

Statewide in Maryland, 330,186 cases have been confirmed, with 6,476 confirmed deaths and 174 probable deaths.

The current hospitalization totals of people with the virus stands at 1,875, with 411 in intensive care.

Across Maryland, more than 2.7 million people have tested negative for the virus.

Nationally, there are now more than 24 million cases with 399,015 deaths.