ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s lieutenant governor says the state could get a small amount of a coronavirus vaccine as soon as mid-December.

Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford made the announcement Wednesday at the start of a Board of Public Works meeting.

Rutherford says health care workers will get the vaccine first. After that, workers in nursing homes and assisted living facilities will be a priority.

Rutherford emphasized that not everyone will be able to get the vaccine at first. But he says that when the general public can get vaccinated, people need to be vaccinated.

He says a vaccine might not be available to the general public until the spring, “if we’re fortunate.”