Maine CDC reports more than 500 new cases of COVID-19 for a second day

Maine health officials on Wednesday reported 547 new cases of COVID-19, another high daily total that comes as the state scrambles to continue vaccinations amid the decline in doses and the unexpected pause of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Four more deaths were also reported.

According to data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the seven-day average is 385, which is higher than 219 two weeks ago and 176 this month last month. The last time there were at least 500 new fall rugby days was January 21-22 during the boom after the holidays.

As has been the case for several days, it is likely that not all of the new cases reported on Wednesday have occurred in the past 24 hours. The staff of the CDC could not verify and analyze all the positive tests presented on a given day.

There is still no doubt that cases have been steadily increasing for weeks and that the upswing is mainly driven by younger people who have not yet been vaccinated. Of the new cases Wednesday, 247 (or 45 percent) were among those under 30 and another 136 cases (25 percent) were people in their thirties. Only 13 new cases were detected in individuals aged 70 or older.

There have now been 55,374 confirmed or probable cases since the pandemic began and 757 people have died.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maine on Wednesday increased slightly to 98, including 33 in critical care and 13 in a ventilator. Total prices have not been that high since early to mid-February, a trend of Maine CDC director, dr. Nirav Shah, which is ‘worrying’.

Vaccinations have meanwhile declined this week after record numbers of shots were given last week. The decline was fueled by fewer doses coming into the state, and also by the U.S. CDC and the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to suspend administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Maine administered 12,687 doses of vaccine on Tuesday and 13,324 doses the previous day, according to the Maine CDC. Last week, after all Mainers 16 and older were eligible, the state posted three consecutive days of more than 20,000 gunshots.

Maine administered a total of 928,038 doses. Of these, 529,261 were first doses, representing just over 39 percent of the population, and 395,777 were final doses, accounting for 29.4 percent of the Mainers. Among residents 70 years or older, with the highest risk of serious illness or death from the virus, nearly 79 percent were fully vaccinated.

The decision to discontinue the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was taken after reports that six people – out of more than 7 million who received the single-dose vaccines – had blood clots after being vaccinated. All were in women between 18 and 48 years old. One is dead.

Although it requires a break from an abundance of caution, top health experts have said the risks remain extremely low, far lower than the risk of contracting serious diseases or dying from COVID-19. One of the biggest reasons for the short break was to let healthcare providers know that they should be on the lookout for possible blood clots in patients who have had the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and to ensure that the patients are treated properly.

The US CDC said it would convene a meeting of the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee on Wednesday to further investigate these issues and assess their potential importance. The FDA will review the analysis as it also investigates these matters. The break will last until the process is complete, but it is not expected to last days or weeks.

Maine’s supply of vaccines is not expected to increase next week. According to the awards posted on the U.S. CDC website on Tuesday, Maine is eligible to receive 15,400 new doses of Moderna vaccine for next week and 21,060 doses of Pfizer. It will not receive any Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

That’s slightly more than 200 doses less than the amount Maine received this week. This does not include separate allocations to retail pharmacies under a partnership with the federal government, although the total is likely to be lower as well because Johnson & Johnson has the most doses that have gone to pharmacies in the past few weeks.

This story will be updated

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