State Center COVID-19 mass vaccination, testing site is fully operational
The state testing and mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Baltimore Convention Center moved and reopened several blocks north and west to a new facility at State Center.
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COVID-19 testing at the State Center facility take place Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Vaccinations take place Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
And of the 170 shots administered this past Saturday, 70 were children under 12.
"It's very accessible and we'll be here throughout the winter season into the spring," said Dr. Melinda Kantsiper, deputy director of the Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital COVID-19 Task Force.
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Public health leaders are working to get the word out that the old Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital -- a mainstay for the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore in the fight against COVID-19 -- has moved.
The facility, which opened Saturday, is now called the State Center COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Site. It's located on the campus of the Maryland State Office Center on West Preston Street.
"We shifted that site here, where there's actually better access in terms of transportation -- we got the Metro and the light rail just within a block of this location as well as bus stops -- and there's plenty of street parking," said Dr. Jinlene Chan, Maryland's deputy secretary of public health services. "People may not be familiar with the State Center stop on the light rail or on the Metro, but it is directly connected to most of the transportation arteries throughout the city."
"We're preparing for the holidays, for travel, for whatever needs people have. We can take care of very large numbers of folks that need vaccines or testing at this site," Kantsiper said.
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Health officials call the new location optimal because it's next to neighborhoods and walkable for many people in the community.
"We tried to do everything we can to make it accessible to all the members of our community," said Dr. Chuck Callahan, director of the BCCFH COVID-19 Task Force. "We've designed the site so that people will have access from an (Americans with Disabilities Act) standpoint, they can pull right up to the site. We have individuals with wheelchairs ready to go out and get them and bring them back to their vehicles."
It's still considered a mass clinic site, according to those who manage it. A temporary structure was built to accommodate 1,000 people a day who can walk in for free COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. The shots are all Pfizer.
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"For ages 5 to 11, and for 12 and up, first dose, second dose, boosters, anything that is recommended by the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for Pfizer," Kantsiper said.
Because supply currently remains short, the only time an appointment is needed at the State Center location is when children under 12 are getting vaccinated. State health officials expect that will change in the coming weeks.
