This week, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that officials in Virginia and Maryland agreed to send DC doses of the vaccine to supplement the amount the city received from the federal government. On Monday, Virginia pledged to send 8,000 doses and today, Bowser shared that Maryland would contribute as well: They will also provide 8,000 doses, according to Bowser spokesperson Susana Castillo.
Bowser recently criticized the dose distribution plan because it was based on residential population, which doesn’t account for DC’s commuting workforce. DC was originally slated to receive about 6,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine—a number that would cover only about 10 percent of the city’s healthcare workers.
I thank @govlarryhogan and @governorva for providing supplemental COVID-19 vaccines to support DC health care workers living in Maryland or Virginia.
We will work together with @VDHgov and @mdhealthdept to ensure the safety of our frontline heroes.#DCHOPE
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) December 16, 2020
The first folks in DC to receive the vaccine will be five first responders, including DC’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief John Donnelly, who should be getting their shots by the end of this week.
Rosa is a senior editor at Bitch Magazine. She’s written for Washingtonian and Smithsonian magazine.
