Governor Janet Mills on Wednesday announced changes to Maine’s strategy for distributing COVID-19 vaccines, shifting the focus to police and firefighters, critical COVID-19 response personnel and residents aged 70 and over.
Public safety officials and COVID response personnel are now part of Phase 1A, which is already underway and includes health professionals, residents and staff from long-term care facilities. Older residents are now part of Phase 1B, which is expected to start in February.
Approximately 193,000 people in Maine are 70 or older, some of whom are already eligible to be vaccinated in Phase 1A because they are in long-term care settings or are health workers, said the governor’s office.
“As we distribute the vaccine and adapt our strategy to meet Maine’s needs, my primary goal is to save lives,” said Mills in a statement. “Maine is a predominantly old state and we have a large number of people with high-risk medical conditions. These people are exactly those who face the greatest risks of the virus. Given that they are at an increased risk of serious illness or death, it is appropriate to first focus on the limited supply of vaccine that Maine receives for this population. “
Vaccination can only proceed as long as stocks remain and Maine and other states have not received the expected doses.
The announcement came on the same day that state health officials reported a new daily high of 824 cases of COVID-19, along with four additional deaths.
It is the first time that Maine has recorded more than 800 new cases in one day. Six days have passed with at least 700 cases, all since December 22.
The average of 7-day cases increased to 582, from 364 cases last month and 173 cases two months ago. Since the pandemic hit Maine in March, there have been 31,150 confirmed or probable cases. New cases have been reported in all counties, led by 198 in York County, 168 in Cumberland County and 100 in Kennebec County.
CVS pharmacy professionals are preparing to administer the first doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to residents and employees on Saturday in Atria, an elderly community in Kennebunk. Derek Davis / Team photographer
The death toll rose to 453, an increase of almost 200 in the last month alone. Of these, 386 (85 percent) were people aged 70 or older, although only 13 percent of all positive cases were in this age group. Of the four deaths reported on Wednesday, two occurred in York County and two in Penobscot County.
Hospitalizations had not yet been updated on Wednesday morning, but on Tuesday 203 individuals in Maine were hospitalized with COVID-19, including 68 in intensive care and 27 on a ventilator. Since March, 1,201 people have been hospitalized at some point.
Mills will conduct the press conference on Wednesday at 2 pm, and will be attended by Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew and the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Nirav Shah.
The sustained level of cases occurs as the state continues its efforts to vaccinate the first phase of individuals – health professionals and residents and employees of long-term care facilities. In addition to the changes announced by Mills on Wednesday, Maine is also considering making changes to state guidelines for administering COVID-19 vaccinations amid complaints across the country that some hospitals are vaccinating executives and others not directly involved in health care. patient.
On Wednesday, 62,004 vaccines were administered in Maine, according to the CDC, although that number is likely to be higher because pharmacies that have hosted nursing home clinics are not required to send the data immediately. Of these, 8,493 were second doses.
The United States has reached the deadliest point of the pandemic. On Tuesday, a record 4,327 deaths were recorded, according to Johns Hopkins University, bringing the United States to more than 380,000 deaths to date, by far the highest number in any country.
The number of COVID-19 cases across the country is about 22.5 million, or nearly 7 percent of the US population.
This story will be updated
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