The young inhabitants of Main, anxious for a COVID-19 vaccine, got one by contacting local pharmacies directly about extra doses, although the state’s general adult population is not eligible for vaccines for almost another month.
The practice is blessed by Maine health officials, who advise providers to give the remaining vaccines to eligible people, but say the most important thing is that no doses are left unused. Mainers in their 50s became eligible on Tuesday. Teachers and childcare providers are also eligible. Maine is one of the few states that has not prioritized younger people with pre-existing health problems and will open vaccines for all adults on April 19.
To avoid missed doses, some of Maine’s more than 150 vaccine suppliers – including some Walmart and Walgreens locations – have accepted last-minute appointments from Mainers under the age of 50 or have resorted to so-called “waste lists”, or lists of people they can call at the last minute to prevent vaccines from being wasted.
Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said there was “nothing unpleasant” in pharmacies that give vaccines to younger residents if the doses expire and there are no qualified people to administer them. Maine’s vaccination policy requires that each dose be used “even if it means occasional deviations” from the state plan, according to a Maine CDC document.
“As a result, we had very few doses in Maine that were not used,” said Shah.
It is unclear how common this practice is, but a Bangor Daily News reporter called 10 retail pharmacies on Tuesday morning to ask if a person not eligible for a vaccine according to state criteria could get an appointment. One offered an interview. Four said they had none available, but could at another time or offered a place on the waiting list. Five others said they were not offering appointments or vacancies on a list.
Individual pharmacies generally vaccinate fewer people per day than larger hospitals. They may end up with extra doses if consultations are canceled or if they host a clinic for a specific population – such as an establishment for the elderly – and fewer people want vaccines than expected.
A spokesman for Northern Light Health, which operates nearly a dozen clinics, including the mass vaccination site at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, said the hospital system rarely has more than two or three doses at the end of each day. . Extra doses are offered to local volunteers based on age.
Because Maine’s vaccination system depends largely on age, two-thirds of people 60 and older received at least one dose of the vaccine, Shah said on Tuesday. More than 590,000 doses have been administered in total. Mainers under the age of 50 can also pre-register on a new state website or by contacting some hospitals.