AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine will extend eligibility for coronavirus vaccination to about 200,000 residents between the ages of 60 and 69 starting on Wednesday and will change the prioritization later to be based only on age, said Governor Janet Mills on Friday. market.
Mainers aged 50 and over will be eligible in April, 40 and over in May, 30 and over in June and the youngest thereafter. This age-based system replaces an earlier plan to prioritize adults with underlying illnesses, as well as some frontline workers after Mainers aged 70 and over who are currently eligible and would be the only one in the country just like him.
Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Friday that the shift to an age-based approach was based on data suggesting that age – even more than serious underlying medical conditions – was the indicator. strongest of serious illnesses. Ninety-eight percent of virus deaths in Maine occur in people over 50, he noted. Maine is the oldest state in the country in the Middle Ages.
“We found that the data pointed to age as a strong indicator of death or severity of the disease,” said Shah.
The move would also make it easier for the state to administer additional vaccines quickly, citing concerns that categories based on occupation would take longer to verify, said Mill. The Democratic governor noted that vaccines could be extended to the country’s youngest inhabitants earlier if the state’s capacity continues to increase.
“It replaces the prospect of complicated eligibility rules, such as those based on your type of work or specific medical conditions, the verification that I am very concerned about will become difficult to implement and may inadvertently delay the process,” said Mills.
Maine will also establish specific vaccine clinics for elementary and high school teachers, said Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew. But there is no other priority for teachers or other new occupations. They can only be vaccinated if they are eligible for age.
The move to an age-based system sets Maine apart. No other state has gone to one after vaccinating nursing home residents and certain essential workers, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit health research organization. California announced a move to an age-based system in late January, but backed down, allowing adults with certain health conditions to be vaccinated along with older people, CalMatters said.
Some states have adopted similar approaches, however. Connecticut is using criteria based primarily on age, Governor Ned Lamont announced last week, but is also vaccinating elementary and high school teachers and daycare workers. Rhode Island is not prioritizing frontline workers over health workers and first responders, but plans to vaccinate adults with certain pre-existing conditions after those aged 60 and over are vaccinated.
Mills acknowledged that Maine’s plan differs from other states, but argued that the approach “will benefit most people named earlier,” given the state’s older population. Maine has the oldest average age of any US state, about seven years older than the national average age.
The shift in prioritization comes a day after the state announces a substantial increase in its weekly distribution of vaccines from the federal government, and while U.S. regulators are considering approving a new Johnson & Johnson unique vaccine that could speed up the process.
On Friday, more than 217,000 Mainers received the first doses of the vaccine, while 110,000 received the second doses. The initial implementation of the state was aimed at residents of nursing homes, health professionals, first responders and some other workers considered essential to the response to the state virus. Maine extended the vaccination to residents 70 and older in mid-January, and has now vaccinated more than 60 percent of people over 70, Mills noted on Friday.
Northern Light Health, based in Bangor, the state’s second largest health care system, was already offering appointments for people over 60 on Friday afternoon.