Senator Griffith joins GoVAX ambassador team

| Apr 5, 2021 | Maryland

Senator Melony Griffith, Senate president pro tem, has joined the Maryland Department of Health’s GoVAX campaign as an ambassador.

 

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Maryland Department of Health Acting Secretary Dennis R. Schrader said Griffith’s visibility and service record make her an important addition to the GoVAX team.

 

Maryland Department of Health

 

At only an 11% vaccination rate, Prince George’s has the lowest second-dose per capita vaccination rate in the state, according to figures by the Maryland Department of Health.

“[Griffith is important] not only as an ambassador, but as an advocate for Prince George’s and all Marylanders during this unprecedented time.”

Griffith weighs in during a public service announcement that is airing on television and will soon be launched on social media. Griffith says:

“Prince George’s County, like much of the state and country, got off to a slow start with vaccinations. We are reaching out to communities and trying to spread the word that the vaccinations are safe, effective and will become more available in the weeks and months to come.”

Griffith, who has a background as a clinical social worker and public health specialist, urges more people to get vaccinated to make the county safer for everyone. Delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk is also an ambassador.

Other GoVAX ambassadors include:

  • Governor Larry Hogan and First Lady Yumi Hogan
  • Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford
  • 20th U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams
  • UMBC President Dr. Freeman Hrabowski and Retired Vice President of T. Rowe Price Jacqueline C. Hrabowski
  • Bishop Walter Scott Thomas of New Psalmist Baptist Church
  • Rev. Matthew Watley and Shawna Watley of Kingdom Fellowship AME Church
  • Dr. Kathleen Page, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • Brigadier General Janeen Birckhead, Maryland National Guard and Head of the Maryland Vaccine Equity Task Force
  • Coach Juan Dixon, Coppin State University Men’s Basketball Coach

The GoVAX campaign is using multiple means to assure Marylanders that the vaccine is safe and effective, including holding a town hall and using a sound truck to decimate messages. Mark Martin, deputy director for the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities for the Maryland Department of Health, has also talked to State of Reform about steps the department is taking to promote the COVID-19 vaccine.