Officials and vaccination advocates in Montgomery County are raising the alarm about reports of racial discrimination at state-authorized vaccination sites throughout Maryland.

During a press conference Monday, volunteers with the group Vaccine Hunters say they’ve heard of several recent instances of alleged discrimination at vaccine clinics in Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Charles counties operated by retail stores and a hospital.

In one case, a Latinx woman seeking a shot at a pharmacy in the county reported that an employee demanded to see her Social Security card before she could get a shot. The woman was finally inoculated after she contacted a Vaccine Hunters volunteer, who called the pharmacy and informed them that recipients don’t have to prove legal status to receive a vaccine, said Maisie Lynch, the volunteer who made the call.

Another volunteer, Tania Perez-Fuentes, also contacted a state delegate to intervene on the woman’s behalf, but the employee hung up on the elected official, she said.

In another case, volunteers say, two Latinx clergy members said an employee at another pharmacy requested a letter from their employer in addition to the W-2 forms they brought to verify their employment.

And in a third incident, a Black woman trying to get vaccinated at a hospital in Montgomery County was asked for her ID, a letter from her employer, and at least one additional piece of documentation, according to volunteers with Vaccine Hunters. The woman had watched several white people receive approval for a vaccine after being asked for no identification or eligibility information at all, they said.

DCist/WAMU has reached out to Vaccine Hunters for more information about these incidents.

Stories like this “bring a lot of concern and fear into the community,” Perez-Fuentes said during the briefing held by Montgomery County Council members. “We’re wanting to get people past the initial fear of the vaccine, and now they’re fearful of what they’re going to be asked.”

Becky Taylor with Vaccine Hunters said the group has asked officials in state government — which oversees vaccine distribution across Maryland — to standardize signage and other posted information about required documentation, “rather than leaving it to the pharmacies to make on-the-spot decisions with varying demands.”

Council President Tom Hucker said it’s unclear how many residents have encountered discriminatory treatment at vaccination sites, but he called the incidents “really troubling.”

“Retail providers don’t have the same equity protocols in place as our health department has been following,” Hucker said.

The Council president called for a unified vaccine preregistration system for all facilities across the state, instead of the current patchwork that requires vaccine seekers to preregister with multiple locations. He also reiterated his calls for a mass vaccination facility in Montgomery County, saying the current system has failed to distribute shots equitably across the state’s most populous jurisdiction.

“Sadly, Montgomery County has lost more of our residents to COVID than any other jurisdiction in the state. We’re second behind Prince George’s in the number of cases,” Hucker said during the press conference. “But the state response has not recognized this reality.”

Maryland opened its newest mass vaccination site in Southern Maryland last week, and it plans to debut centers in Salisbury and Hagerstown later this month. The state’s other sites are located at Six Flags in Prince George’s County, M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, and the Baltimore Convention Center. The sites rely on an “honor system,” Maryland Acting Secretary of Health Dennis Schrader told the Baltimore Sun, and individuals who show up for shots aren’t asked for proof of eligibility or identification.

The state’s selection of which communities get mass sites “pretends as if our vulnerable seniors and our essential workers all have cars,” Hucker added.

The councilmember, who represents much of Eastern Montgomery County, pointed out on his Facebook page that it would take more than three hours each way for a Poolesville resident to access the Six Flags vaccination site by bus.

As of Monday, 9.6% of Maryland’s population was fully vaccinated, according to state-reported data — the lowest rate in the region. Montgomery County’s vaccination rate ranks 15th statewide.

“The fastest way for the state to increase its numbers is to bring the vaccines to the greatest number of people who qualify for them, and that means a mass vaccination site in Montgomery County,” Hucker said.

U.S. Representatives David Trone and Jamie Raskin, both Democrats who represent parts of Montgomery County in Congress, have urged Schrader and Gov. Larry Hogan to open a site in the county.

“It’s the logical thing to do,” Raskin posted on Twitter last week.

Hogan’s office said in a press release on March 2 that the state is in “active discussions” with other counties that have expressed interest in opening mass vaccination sites.