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Maryland Governor Larry Hogan addresses vaccine shortage and hate crimes against Asian Americans
Governor Larry Hogan on Friday addressed the current shortage of coronavirus vaccines, as well as hate crimes against Asian Americans.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Two big headlines on Friday coming from Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.
The governor said that Robert Hur, who stepped down as Maryland’s top federal prosecutor two months ago, will lead the charge on addressing anti-Asian discrimination that both said their family members have experienced.
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The problem of violence against Asian-Americans started happening in March and April of last year during a rise in COVID cases and negative stereotyping of Asians relating to the pandemic.
The governor has spoken out about racism against Asian Americans during the pandemic. His wife is Korean American. The governor has said in the past month that his wife, three daughters and grandchildren have felt some discrimination personally.
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"We have had these conversations a lot in our family and our three daughters are very concerned about our four grandkids," Hogan said Friday.
"We had a family zoom with everybody where they were just pouring out and telling stories about all the things that happened to them throughout their lives. These are much like the conversations the former U.S Attorney said, where he was worried about his parent. Our own kids are worried about their mom. These are conversations that not everyone was aware of or the kinds of feeling."
The governor also noted that hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in Maryland, have more than doubled since 2018.
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During the Friday afternoon address, the governor also touched on the latest regarding COVID-19 vaccine supplies.
He said the state is facing a quarter-million vaccine dosage shortfall after a J&J production mix-up last month resulted in the loss of around 15 million doses of the vaccine last week.
Hogan said, his office was told by members of President Joe Biden’s administration that there would not be much disruption in the vaccine supply, to support mass vaccinations but it seems, that is not the case anymore.
"They were telling us as late as multiple times last week — everybody at the White House, Dr. Fauci, everybody in the supply chain — saying there was gonna be no disruption," Hogan said. "And then all of a sudden they go, ‘Whoops, you’re going to be 250,000 short for the next three weeks."
Hogan said he still isn’t sure what the issue was at the Emergent BioSolutions plant that led to tossing out the doses, but that he remains hopeful the vaccine being developed by Novavax in Gaithersburg, will soon be approved for use in the U.S. to help make up for the shortfall.
Earlier Friday, Hogan said that for the first time, the state surpassed 80,000 vaccinations in a single day.
He said more vaccines are projected to be available by the end of May rather than the end of April, as previously anticipated.