Maine on Tuesday reported 211 new cases of COVID-19 and three additional deaths.
The relatively lower number of daily cases has continued a trend since mid-January of reduced cases as the state’s vaccination program progresses. Since the pandemic began, Maine has recorded 41,630 positive cases of COVID-19 and 639 deaths. The seven-day average daily new cases were 238.6 on Tuesday, compared to 321.7 a week ago and 540 a month ago. Virus prevention in Maine is similar to early December, when cases were still uphill.
Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, is expected to notify the media today at 2 p.m.
In another sign that the pandemic is currently declining in Maine, the average of seven days of new hospitalizations was 3.1, compared to a peak of 18 mid-December. Currently, 117 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maine, including 24 in intensive care.
As of Tuesday, 200,927 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been given, including 145,894 first doses and 55,033 second doses. Maine ranks eighth among states for people who have received one or more doses, according to Bloomberg News vaccine detection, on 10.6 percent of the population. Alaska is 15% in the country and the US average is 10%.
In Maine, Cumberland County residents have been vaccinated at the highest rate to date, with 17,842 doses per 100,000 residents, followed by Aroostook County at 17,160 doses per 100,000 residents. Somerset County experienced the slowest vaccine in Maine, with 8,233 doses per 100,000 residents, according to Maine’s Vaccine Dashboard.
The number of vaccination sites is expanding, with the CDC in Maine delivering 1,100 vaccine doses this week to nine community-based health clinics providing medical care to underserved communities, many in rural parts of the state. The centers include: Penobscot Community Health Care, Bucksport Regional Health Center, Harrington Family Health Center, Hometown Health Center in Newport, Islands Community Medical Services in Vinalhaven, DFD Russell Medical Centers in central and western Maine and St. Louis. Croix Family Health Center in Princeton.
Dr. Logan Murray is undergoing vaccination at a COVID-19 mass clinic in the former Scarborough Downs racetrack. Staff photo by Derek Davis Buy this photo
Each site will receive 100 doses of Moderna vaccine, with the exception of Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor, which received 300 doses. The deliveries are part of the effort to vaccinate 70-year-olds and older.
The Maine CDC expects to receive 21,475 doses this week, an increase of 1,100 doses, but less than half the amount needed to achieve large-scale vaccination.
Teachers ask them when they will be in line to receive the vaccine. Twenty-six states have announced plans to vaccinate teachers, but Maine is not one of them. Government Janet Mills said in a media conference last week that teachers are “highly valued”, but no decisions have been made on when they will start receiving their shots.
The next group to be vaccinated is those in the age group 65 to 69, who are likely to make appointments in the first week of March.
This story will be updated.
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