State says 45% of Maryland fully vaccinated against COVID, as positivity rate hits new low

Baltimore Sun - 5/22/2021

More than 45% of Marylanders have now completed their coronavirus vaccinations, a milestone eclipsed while the state’s testing positivity rate reached a new low mark, according to the health department.

Here’s a look at where other key COVID-19 indicators were Saturday:

Cases

With 521 new coronavirus infections, Maryland has now recorded 458,048 since health officials began to track the virus in March 2020, according to the health department.

Deaths

Seventeen more people were reported dead from COVID-19, bringing to 8,799 the disease’s casualty count in Maryland throughout the pandemic, the data shows.

Hospitalizations

About 490 people remained in Maryland hospitals with the coronavirus Saturday, 31 fewer than the day before, according to the state. That’s less than half of the number hospitalized a month ago and almost 200 less than a week ago.

Of those still hospitalized, 142 patients required intensive care — the same tally as Friday.

Testing positivity

After increasing slightly Thursday to 2.07%, the state’s average testing positivity rate declined to 2.04% Friday, the data shows. That’s the lowest it’s been throughout the pandemic.

The percentage, which measures the share of tests returned positive over the last week, has decreased most of May, according to the health department. It’s less than half what it was a month ago.

Health officials said 37,061 tests were returned Friday, meaning about 10.2 million nasal swabs have been tested for COVID-19 throughout the pandemic.

Vaccinations

The state reported 47,102 vaccinations Saturday, with 18,089 receiving a first dose of the two-dose vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna and 27,572 more completing their courses. Additionally, the state said 1,441 doses of Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot immunizations made their way into arms.

More than 45% of Maryland’s 6 million residents have been fully vaccinated, either by receiving the single-shot vaccine or finishing a two-dose regimen.

About 5.85 million vaccine doses have been administered since Dec. 14. The state has reported an average of 50,378 immunizations daily over the last week.

Federal entities in Maryland have dished out 195,742 vaccine doses, according to the health department.

This article will be updated.