Health care providers begin pre-registering the vaccine for adults over 70

Maine health care providers began scheduling appointments this week so that seniors aged 70 and over can receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Major healthcare networks – including MaineHealth, Central Maine Healthcare, InterMed and Northern Light Health, among others – say vaccine clinics are imminent. MaineHealth sent an email to 300,000 patients last week to inform them that patients aged 70 and older can wait to start making appointments this week or next week.

Whether Mainers should call or go online to schedule an appointment now or next week, depends on the healthcare provider. Governor Janet Mills’ office published an online list on Monday where people aged 70 and over can make an appointment. The list is expected to be updated as more health networks set up systems for consultation.

The site lists 18 providers that will offer vaccines and reminds patients to have proof of eligibility at hand. Vaccines are free, but your doctor may ask for your insurance information.

MaineHealth was flooded with more than 18,000 calls on Monday, the first day people called to make an appointment, said John Porter, a spokesman for the health network. The weekly supply across the state of Maine is around 18,000 doses.

“We are making appointments, but demand is currently outpacing supply,” said Porter. “Patient vaccination is being implemented across the system this week.”

Porter asked those under 70 not to call the consultation number, but to consult the MaineHealth website or the COVID-19 website of the Maine governor’s office.

“We are just preparing our clinics,” said Porter. “We will not have as many appointments available this week as we will have next week and the following week.”

MaineHealth is the parent company of Maine Medical Center in Portland and a large network of hospitals and healthcare services across much of the state. People over 70 can make an appointment at 877-780-7545. Porter said that vaccines are available to the general public, not just MaineHealth patients.

Some locations for vaccination sites have been announced on the site, such as Stearns High School in Millinocket, the Patten Fire Department and the Knights of Columbus salons in Madawaska and Fort Kent. But most providers simply list the municipality where the vaccines will be administered.

The launch comes after Mills announced last week that adults 70 and older and young people with high-risk health conditions would be moved closer to the front of the line for vaccination.

Maine reported 317 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and three additional deaths. It was the third consecutive day with comparatively lowercase counts, although it remains unclear whether Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday contributed to a delay in reporting cases.

But with 317 new cases on Monday after 438 cases on Saturday and 340 on Sunday, the case count is much lower than the more than 800 cases a day that were reported for three consecutive days last week. The seven-day averages have exceeded 500 daily cases since January 6.

Robert Long, a spokesman for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency’s laboratory that processes the tests was open on the weekend and Monday, but it is possible that national laboratories not affiliated with the Maine CDC have been affected by the holiday.

Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC, is due to report to the media at 2 pm Tuesday. The media briefings that took place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays were moved to Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The seven-day average of new daily cases was 609.3 on Monday, compared with 520.4 in the previous week and 447.3 in the previous month. Nationally, the case count remains high, and the country has recorded about 390,000 deaths since the pandemic began. Hospitalizations and deaths delay cases, so Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the US CDC under the Biden government, said on Sunday that she looks forward to a dark month ahead.

“In mid-February, we expect half a million deaths in this country,” Walensky told CBS News on Sunday.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 33,876 cases of COVID-19 and 514 deaths in Maine. The new variant of the new coronavirus has not yet been detected in Maine, but Massachusetts on Sunday became the second state of New England, after Connecticut, to report a case of the variant in the United Kingdom. The variant is no longer deadly, but it is more contagious and has generated peak cases in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The Massachusetts case involved a woman in her 20s from Boston who returned to the United States this month after visiting the UK

This week, details of the expansion of Maine’s vaccination plans are due to be released, including for those 70 and older who are being moved to the top of the priority list.

The state is in the middle of Phase 1A of the vaccination program, which includes the immunization of health professionals, paramedics and asylum workers and residents.

Parts of Phase 1B will begin before the end of Phase 1A, Maine CDC officials said.

Phase 1B will include elderly people aged 70 and over, young adults with high-risk health conditions and essential frontline workers such as teachers, postmen and grocery store clerks. Seniors aged 70 and over are being prioritized, and while essential frontline workers are in Phase 1B, some of these workers may be vaccinated later.

President-elect Joe Biden pledged last week to use the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist in the mass vaccination effort, creating thousands of vaccination sites across the country. Senator Angus King of Maine, an independent, signed a letter from 34 senators to waive the requirement that states provide 25 percent in matching funds for FEMA services used to respond to the pandemic. King said in a press release that the move could potentially save Maine $ 35 million.

Meanwhile, Maine administered 79,149 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, with 67,289 first doses and 11,860 second doses. There are currently 194 people hospitalized in Maine for COVID-19, with 63 in intensive care.

Biden has promised to increase vaccine delivery, as state officials, including those in Maine, have complained that shipments have been relatively stable when they expected far more doses per week so far. Maine has received about 18,000 doses a week from the federal government.

The deaths reported on Monday include a resident of Hancock County and two residents of Penobscot County. Two of the people who died were men, while one was a woman. One person who died was in his 50s, while the other two were in their 70s.

“Previous

Next ”

Related stories