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Governor Janet Mills on Wednesday announced changes to Maine’s strategy for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, focusing on police and firefighters, critical COVID-19 response personnel and also residents aged 70. years and older.
Public safety officials and COVID response staff are now part of Phase 1A, which is already underway and includes healthcare workers, residents, and long-term care facility staff. The older residents are now part of Phase 1B, which is scheduled to begin in February.
About 193,000 people in Maine are 70 years of age or older, some of whom are already qualified to be vaccinated in phase 1A because they are in long-term care facilities or are healthcare workers, the governor’s office said. .
“As we distribute the vaccine and adapt our strategy to meet the needs of Maine, my fundamental goal is to save lives,” Mills said in a statement. “Maine is primarily an older state, and we have a large number of people with high risk health conditions. These people are exactly the people who face the greatest risks from the virus. Since they are at greater risk of serious illness or death, one should first target the limited supply of vaccine Maine receives for this population. “
Vaccinations will only be able to take place until supplies run out and Maine and other states have not received as many doses as planned.
The announcement came on the same day that state health officials reported a new daily record of 824 COVID-19 cases, as well as four more deaths.
This is the first time Maine has reported more than 800 new cases in one day. There have now been six days of at least 700 cases, all since December 22.
The 7-day average of cases rose to 582, from 364 cases this time 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 every county, including 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 staff on Saturday in Atria, an elderly community in Kennebunk. Derek Davis / Staff Photographer
The death toll rose to 453, an increase of almost 200 just last month. Of these, 386 (85%) were people aged 70 or older, although only 13% of all positive cases were in this age group. Of the four deaths reported on Wednesday, two were in York County and two in Penobscot County.
Hospitalizations had yet to be updated Wednesday morning, but as of Tuesday, 203 people in Maine had been hospitalized with COVID-19, including 68 in intensive care and 27 on ventilators. Since March, 1,201 people have been hospitalized at one point.
Mills will host Wednesday’s press conference at 2 p.m., and will be joined by Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew and Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr Nirav Shah.
The sustained level of cases comes as the state continues efforts to vaccinate the first phase of individuals – health workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities. In addition to the changes announced by Mills on Wednesday, Maine is also considering amending state guidelines for administering COVID-19 vaccines amid nationwide complaints that some hospitals are inoculating executives and d ‘others are not directly involved in patient care.
As of Wednesday, 62,004 vaccines had been administered in Maine, according to the CDC, although the number is likely higher because pharmacies that have hosted clinics for nursing homes are not required to submit data immediately. Of these, 8,493 were second doses.
The United States has reached the deadliest point in the pandemic. On Tuesday, a record 4,327 deaths were reported, according to Johns Hopkins University, pushing the United States to more than 380,000 deaths so far, by far the highest number of any country.
The number of COVID-19 cases nationwide is approximately 22.5 million, or nearly 7% of the U.S. population.
This story will be updated
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