Maine reports 259 new cases of COVID-19, 3 additional deaths

Maine reported 259 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, and three additional deaths.

The 259 new cases follow 189 cases registered on Sunday and 324 on Saturday. Daily cases have not increased to more than 800 in a day since January 15.

The seven-day daily average of new cases dropped from 562.3 a week ago to 452.8 on Monday. A month ago, the seven-day average was 458.6. The peak – so far – during the pandemic was 624 on 15 January.

Overall, there were 37,046 cases of COVID-19 in Maine and 547 deaths.

Meanwhile, the vaccine’s launch continues, albeit at a much slower pace than public health officials expected, as vaccine production has yet to increase. Maine is receiving about 18,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine per week. The state’s population aged 70 or older, which Maine began immunizing last week, is 193,000.

As of Monday, Maine had given 110,332 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, including 87,292 first doses and 23,040 second doses.

Northern Light Health – the parent company of Mercy Hospital in Portland and Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, among others, announced on Monday a new hotline for scheduling vaccine appointments, 204-8551, for people aged 70 and over. To schedule an appointment online, go to www.covidnlandalighthealth.org/publicvaccine starting at 2pm today.

MaineHealth, the parent company of Maine Medical Center in Portland and a large network of healthcare systems, created a number to book appointments at 877-780-7545. For more information on all health care providers where a patient can make an appointment, go to www.maine.gov/covid19/vaccines/vaccination-sites.

For now, healthcare professionals are recognizing that it can be difficult to make an appointment due to limited vaccine supplies.

Dr. Dora Anne Mills, MaineHealth’s director of health improvement, said in a Facebook post on Monday morning that “there is very little vaccine in Maine or anywhere, compared to the number of people who need it ”.

“The vaccine is our ticket to more normality (probably a“ new normal ”). It is our ticket to finally celebrate holidays together, hugging our loved ones and our children returning to school full time, ”wrote Mills. “In the meantime, the vaccine provides us with an additional, critical layer of safety, to be added to other layers of safety, such as masking, distance, hand hygiene, non-collection and ventilation.”

On Sunday, Maine Sens. Susan Collins, a Republican, and independent Angus King participated in a liaison between a group of moderate senators and a White House official to discuss the $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, which includes many measures , such as financing for the distribution of vaccines and checks for $ 1,400 to families.

Collins said in a statement on Sunday that he believes the scope of the package should be reduced.

“Although I support immediate additional funding for vaccine production, distribution and vaccination, and for testing, it seems premature to consider a package of this size and scope,” Collins said in a statement.

This story will be updated.

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