State health officials reported 182 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with no further deaths, on a day when two mass vaccination clinics were opened in southern Maine.
The new sites were launched at Portland Expo, operated by Northern Light Health, and the former Marshalls store in Sanford, managed by MaineHealth. Residents aged 60 to 69 can start receiving photos on Wednesday. Another mass vaccination site, at Auburn Mall, is scheduled to open on March 17. The Auburn site will be operated by Central Maine Healthcare and will have a capacity for 1,000 patients per day.
And Hannaford Supermarkets has announced that it will start COVID-19 vaccination efforts at 35 pharmacies in Maine later this week.
Meanwhile, the head of the Maine Education Association’s teachers’ union is now asking Governor Janet Mills to reconsider the decision to have a vaccination program strictly based on advancing age.
Grace Leavitt, MEA president, expressed support for the plan last week, but said in a letter to Mills on Monday that “many of our educators are extremely upset and angry because all educators are not prioritized to receive vaccines now.”
Leavitt also encouraged Mills to prioritize school staff with high-risk medical conditions and staff who work with special education students. Mills’s plan will have dedicated clinics for school staff, but it will still be age-based, so in March, only teachers aged 60 and over will receive the vaccine.
From the left, Brie Colville, a pharmacist, Nick Bloom and Hollie Maloney, both certified pharmacy technicians, prepare syringes of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine before the doors open on the first day of the Northern Light Mercy mass vaccination clinic Hospital at Portland Expo on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Maloney said they were preparing about 500 doses for the day. Brianna Soukup / Team photographer
Regardless of prioritization problems, a record number of doses are arriving in Maine this week. The two new massive sites open as the Maine immunization program expands, with more than 55,000 doses scheduled to be sent to the state this week, including 15,000 doses of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Overall, Maine administered 355,810 doses, including 231,353 first doses, representing 17.21 percent of the population.
Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Disease Control and Prevention Center, and Maine health commissioner Jeanne Lambrew, will report to the media at 1 pm today. Shah said that if Maine can regularly receive about 50,000 doses a week, it will no longer be limited by supplies to vaccinate the population.
Since the start of the pandemic, Maine has recorded 44,944 positive cases of COVID-19 and 703 deaths.
In addition to the mass vaccination sites, which also include Scarborough Downs and the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, people aged 60 and over can schedule a vaccination appointment at one of more than 70 Walmart, Sam’s Club or Walgreens locations.
Last week, Mills unveiled a new age-based system for the vaccination program, with people aged 60 and over becoming eligible on March 3, 50 and older, April 1, 40 and older 1 May, 30 and older 1st June and 16-29 starting in July. The schedule may accelerate if vaccine supplies become more plentiful.
The previous plan prioritized those with high-risk health conditions, but was rejected in favor of an age-based plan. Mills and Shah defended the move, arguing that age is the biggest risk factor for COVID-19. Other groups, like some professors and hospitality workers, have also criticized the plan.
Hilary Koch of Waterville, whose family has high-risk health problems, said she was told by the state at all times that high-risk people would have priority, only to have the rug pulled under them last week.
“I’m sorry for every person who is at high risk, but this policy doesn’t suit them – it doesn’t really fit and puts them at the bottom of the line,” said Koch. “I feel cheated and I feel that people with medical disabilities have been cheated.”
Current hospitalizations in Maine were 69 on Tuesday, an increase of seven from the previous day, with 25 in intensive care.
This story will be updated
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