Maryland
Despite vaccination rate drops, Maryland is in the clear for measles herd immunity
Maryland is well protected from measles, mumps and rubella, despite some declines in vaccination rates compared to the beginning of the pandemic.
The data comes from a new study from Johns Hopkins University that shows a 2.7% decrease in vaccination rates for the diseases across 33 states.
The decreases bring the average vaccination rate from about 94% to about 91.3%, raising concerns about the potential for outbreaks.
“Measles is very infectious and requires what’s called a herd immunity threshold of around 95%,” said Lauren Gardner, director of Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering. “That means you want about 95% of a population to be protected through vaccination to prevent outbreaks of measles happening in that location.”
The study looks at vaccination rates by county. All of Maryland’s counties hit the 95% threshold. However, that was not the case in many jurisdictions across the nation.
Gardner said some counties’ rates dropped as much as 15% since before the pandemic.
“Hawaii had coverage that was pretty good, hovering around 95%,” Gardner said. “The average rate after COVID, is hovering closer to 80% which is obviously far below the herd immunity threshold that we would want.”
This year several cases of measles have been reported in Maryland. All of those incidents were due to residents traveling internationally.
However, places like Texas have seen large outbreaks. The total U.S. count for measles this year is over a thousand cases.
Police said Dequan Gravely, 23, of Charles County, was driving northbound on Route 210 near Pine Drive when his Mercedes collided with the school bus turning left from the southbound lanes.
The driver of a car involved in a crash with a Prince George’s County school bus in Accokeek, Maryland, on Friday has been identified.
Prince George’s County police said Dequan Gravely, 23, of Bryans Road in Charles County, was driving northbound on Route 210 near Pine Drive around 7:20 a.m. when his Mercedes collided with the school bus turning left from the southbound lanes.
Investigators said the crash happened in the intersection, causing the school bus to flip onto its side. Gravely died at the scene.
The school bus driver was transported to a hospital and treated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Police said no students were on the bus at the time of the crash.
Investigators said they believe debris from the collision damaged a third vehicle. The driver of that vehicle “declined medical attention,” police said.
The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit is investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 301-731-4422.
WTOP’s Acacia James contributed to this report.
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A D.C. man won $5 million from a scratch-off lottery ticket in Maryland last week, and the matching number that netted him the prize happened to be his age.
Talk about a birthday surprise! A D.C. man won $5 million from a scratch-off lottery ticket in Maryland last week, and the matching number that netted him the prize happened to be his age.
Maurice Williams, a school bus driver in D.C., claimed the first top prize on a $5,000,000 LUXE scratch-off. He had used his $50 winnings from a previous LUXE scratch-off ticket to buy a new one the next day.
In a release from the Maryland Lottery, Williams said he didn’t know he had won until he scanned the ticket: “It’s crazy because the matching number was 59 and I just turned 59 the other day.”
Williams said he sat in shock for a while before calling his mother.
He said he plans to buy his mother a house with the winnings and then save up.
Two more top prizes from the scratch-off have yet to be claimed, the Maryland Lottery said, as well as nine $200,000 prizes, 10 $50,000 prizes and thousands of prizes ranging from $50 to $10,000.
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© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
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