Two Maryland congressmen have called for the federal government to open a coronavirus vaccination site in Prince George’s County, which has the lowest vaccination rate in the state despite having the most reported cases.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and fellow Democratic Rep. Anthony Brown, who both represent parts of Prince George’s, requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency operate a site in the county, which so far has only seen 4.3% of its residents receive the first dose of the vaccine, the lowest in the state, WUSA-TV (Channel 9) reported.
The lawmakers made the call after President Biden said federal resources would be deployed to organize about 100 vaccination sites throughout the country managed by FEMA. In a statement, they noted the challenges Prince George’s faces such as “chronic staffing, bandwidth and resource shortages” as reasons for a site.
“The cross-jurisdictional nature of the DMV region and the high number of federal employees in Prince George’s County call for coordinated, federal support and a central, federally run site in the county,” the statement said, WUSA reported.
Prince George’s currently has reported more than 70,000 coronavirus cases since the pandemic’s start early last year. By comparison, approximately 8.8% of Montgomery County residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, though the county has nearly 10,000 fewer cases than Prince George’s.
As of Wednesday, roughly 39,000 of Prince George’s 900,000-plus residents have received at least one vaccine dose, according to state health department statistics.
