Maryland Students Recount Roadblocks Getting Vaccine Appointments

The Live! Casino and Hotel in Anne Arundel County Maryland, which has served as a mass vaccination site since January (Danielle Ohl/Capital Gazette)

As of April 6, all Maryland residents 16 and older are eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at state mass vaccination sites, according to an announcement made by the Governor’s office. 

As a result, many  UMD students are now eligible to receive a vaccine. Up to this point, some students have run into trouble trying to claim a spot.

Sophomore information sciences major Jalen Coles had a challenging experience. It took about two weeks of searching before he was able to find a vaccine appointment.

He was able to schedule one for March 18 between his classes at The Live! Casino and Hotel, which also served as a vaccination site in Anne Arundel County.

“It was a good 30 to 35 minutes [away] so it was a bit of a hassle to get there,” said Coles.

As a Resident Assistant, he said he was able to get priority as a “higher education employer” because he works in close proximity to students.

Even those who may have qualified as part of a priority group had a hard time getting an appointment. Similar to the case of sophomore international business major Winston Broadbell.

Like Coles, Broadbell is a Resident Assistant but it took longer for him to receive an appointment. He and his parents had contracted COVID-19 in late January.

“The vaccine was definitely something that was pushed to the back of my mind, simply because I had already been infected before,” said Broadbell.

Once he was cleared of the disease, he said it was hard to book an appointment. It wasn’t until recently that he was able to get registered for one on April 12th.

Daniel Mendez, a freshman chemistry major, described a similarly difficult process. It was challenging at times to keep up with state guidelines and once he was able to register to try to find a place where appointments were available.

It’s like trying to “find diamonds in the rough,” said Mendez. “Usually I would go on Reddit and see where people are saying appointments are more available.”

He said it’s been difficult trying to find appointments in his current residence in Silver Spring.

“I’m sure that there are tons of people trying to get appointments at the same time,” said Mendez.

He compared the process to trying to find a product that goes out of sale minutes after it’s released. Even so, he’s still looking as a “safety precaution.”

In an email to the campus community sent on April 8 Dr. Spyridon Marinopoulos, the Director of the University Health Center, said that a limited amount of COVID-19 vaccinations would be available throughout the following week. As of late, he’s been attempting to get an appointment at an on-campus clinic but hasn’t had any luck so far.

“I just want to enjoy the campus safely because I missed the whole year of my experience at UMD in person,” said Mendez.