Updated vaccine Q&A: When can I expect a MaineHealth appointment call?

Maine’s vaccination campaign against COVID-19 is well underway, albeit at a slower pace than desired due to limited vaccine supplies. The demand is so high, even within the small subset of Maine’s population eligible for vaccination – those aged 70 and over – that most are still waiting for consultations.

Here are answers to some of the many questions about the state’s vaccination program. There are others? Send them to [email protected].

I am over 70 years old and I am successfully registered for a vaccine at MaineHealth. That was weeks ago, though, and I didn’t hear anything. What do I do?

Unfortunately, you have to keep waiting. And it is not clear for how long.

Because of extremely limited vaccine supplies, MaineHealth is scheduling vaccination appointments only a week in advance, based on how many doses it expects to receive from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. MaineHealth officials declined to provide an estimated waiting time on Wednesday for appointments to eligible residents who registered due to future supply uncertainties.

“Since vaccine delivery is so low and unpredictable and the … number of people who are applying, we are unable to provide estimates at this time,” said MaineHealth spokesman John Porter.

This week, MaineHealth was scheduled to receive about 5,300 initial doses of vaccine spread across its hospitals in Portland, Brunswick, Biddeford, Franklin, Damariscotta and Rockland. And some of those injections were sent to the Scarborough Downs mass vaccination site, which opened on Wednesday and could eventually vaccinate up to 2,000 people a day – but only when they have the doses in hand.

As of Wednesday, 65,000 people who are currently eligible for vaccination were pre-registered with MaineHealth, with more registrations each day. And while most injections are being administered to Mainers aged 70 or over as part of Phase 1B, there are still some health workers, public safety officials or COVID-19 response workers within Phase 1A being vaccinated.

“If the federal government suddenly gives us a lot more vaccine, the waiting time will decrease,” said Porter.

What happens if I lose my call? Will I lose my place in the queue?

MaineHealth will “try several times in the next few days” to reach a person who was not available when called about an available vaccination appointment, according to a FAQ feature on the company’s website. After three failed attempts, the system “will leave a message with instructions on how to connect directly with our appointment scheduling team”.

MaineHealth calls will come from 877-780-7545, so keep this in mind if you don’t answer calls from unknown numbers or if you have a system that tries to block spam calls.

Individuals who miss a call do not necessarily have to wait by the phone for the next call.

They can call that MaineHealth number – 877-780-7545 – and if the system recognizes the caller’s number as belonging to someone who is about to make an appointment, the call will automatically be routed to a scheduler. But callers must use the same number in the registration system and must not “block” their number from appearing on the caller ID.

This process will only work for individuals who are currently eligible for nominations. Other calls will go straight to the registration system.

I registered with MaineHealth, but I still want to confirm that I am “on the list”. Is there a way to do this?

No, not at the moment.

“After you register and receive this confirmation (during the registration call), you can be sure you are on the list,” said Porter.

Why doesn’t Maine have a centralized state system that allows people to register and schedule vaccination appointments, as other states do? And is one coming?

Maine and about 40 other states chose not to use a new system launched by the federal government because it did not offer a complete solution for registering, scheduling and tracking vaccines across the state. Other states have launched their own systems, but Maine (which has the country’s oldest population and irregular, at best, internet access in many areas) has not yet done so.

As a result, each hospital network or healthcare system in Maine is using different systems that do not necessarily communicate with each other.

Maine CDC is working on an online registration system across the state, as well as a centralized call center for those who do not have access to the computer or who need help registering and making appointments. But it won’t be available for a few more weeks, or maybe a month.

“At Maine CDC, this is probably the top priority for our entire team. This is a completely gas-free situation or solution that we need to have ready to work, ”said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of Maine’s CDC, during his briefing on Tuesday.

I would prefer to be vaccinated by my personal doctor, but they are a small, independent clinic. When will doctors’ offices not affiliated with a hospital or healthcare network start receiving doses of vaccine to administer?

This is a topic of ongoing discussion at the state level. But at this point, there is still a little missing.

Asked about this during his briefing on Tuesday, Dr. Nirav Shah, of the Maine CDC, said that the priority now is to vaccinate as many people as possible each week, with no doses left at the end of a clinic. Lots of the Pfizer vaccine, which require deep-frozen storage, contain more than 900 doses each, while Moderna lots have about 100 doses each, but each vial (containing 10 doses) must be used within six hours to prevent damage.

The Maine CDC has given most of these doses, so far, to hospitals and healthcare networks capable of achieving this “high yield”.

“Independent medical practices can play a role there,” said Shah. “But if we put 500 extra doses in the state, we have a choice to make. At the moment, our focus has been on giving these doses to places that we know without a doubt that they can achieve this high performance. When we have a much larger supply of vaccines, we hope to be able to supply them to independent medical offices. But now, we don’t know when it will be. “

This is a source of frustration for some primary care physicians and private physicians who insist on having staff and resources to quickly identify eligible patients, schedule and administer vaccines. The Maine Medical Association also discussed minor practices working together to organize joint vaccination clinics capable of attracting more patients.

What is the latest schedule for vaccinations in Maine?

The phases listed below can (and will) change, depending on the doses administered by the federal government and the efficiency with which the state’s vaccination campaign is operating. But here are the latest estimates:

• Phase 1A (medical professionals, public security officials, COVID-19 response personnel, long-term care homes): started in December and ended in early February
• Phase 1B (Mainers 70 and older, followed by adults with high-risk medical conditions, 65 to 69 years of age and some essential workers): started in late January and should continue until April.
• Phase 1C (other critical workers not included in Phase 1B): May and June
• Phase 2 (all other people aged 16 and over): June and summer

Where is Maine at the launch of the vaccination?

Phase 1A is ending and Mainers 70 or more vaccinations are in progress as part of Phase 1B. Maine’s 70-year-old and older segment alone accounts for more than 190,000 residents and the state is receiving only about 20,000 new initial doses of vaccine per week from the federal government.

Vaccination for people with high-risk medical conditions, as well as 65-69 Mainers, is likely to begin later this winter or early this spring (again, depending on the vaccine supply) after significant progress has been made with more than 70 people. Then, some “essential frontline workers” will become eligible.

Which “essential” workers can be vaccinated first?

The Maine CDC and the Mills administration have not yet made this call because they are focused on more than 190,000 residents aged 70 and over. Federal guidelines have identified teachers, day care centers, grocery workers, postal workers, public transport workers and people involved in agricultural / food production as essential workers, but states are largely free to prioritize vaccines.

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