Maine could begin vaccinating residents aged 65 to 69 next week

Reta Morrill receives a vaccination from Dr. Chuck Radis during a vaccination clinic on Feb. 14 at Bracket Memorial Methodist Church on Peaks Island. Gregory Rec / Staff Photographer

Maine is on track to vaccinate residents 65 to 69 next week, a welcome sign amid a continuing downward trend in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

In addition, another retail pharmacy giant – Walgreens – will start vaccinating those 70 years and older in Maine and 22 other states this week. Walgreens joins Walmart and Sam’s Club locations as places where people can plan vaccine vaccinations, in addition to clinics already set up by hospitals, primary care centers and other health care agencies.

Although no fixed timetable has been set, Governor Janet Mills and Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said Maine would likely begin immunizing two-thirds of the 70- and 69-year-olds once. older population got their first shots. With about 53 percent of those 70 and older now vaccinated and the increase in vaccine supply, the milestone could be reached next week.

“In addition to the fact that a significant majority of Maine residents 70 years and older are vaccinated, the vaccination of our federal partners can affect the timing of when people between the ages of 65 and 69 can begin planning vaccinations,” he said. Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Robert Long said in an email on Monday in response to questions.

The Maine CDC reported 97 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the lowest total since 89 cases were reported one week ago, and the second time in eight days that the agency has reported fewer than 100 new cases. No additional deaths were reported for the second consecutive day.

Pandemic conditions have improved significantly since mid-January, with daily numbers falling to levels not seen since early November. The seven-day daily average now stands at 118, down from 268 cases two weeks ago and from 499 cases one month ago.

Despite positive trends in Maine and across the country, the United States has now crossed the grim milestone of 500,000 Americans dying from COVID-19, by far the most of any country. The Biden government commemorated them with a candlelight service in Washington on Monday night.

Maine’s COVID-19 death rate of 487 deaths per 1 million residents is the fourth lowest in the country, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Only Alaska, Vermont and Hawaii had fewer deaths per capita than Maine. New Jersey has the worst death rate in the country, with 2,558 deaths per 1 million people.

In addition to the increased vaccine allocation in Maine, another 4,680 doses are expected to arrive in Maine on Wednesday for use at Walgreens locations. Although appointments were not yet available Monday, Walgreens is expected to start planning somewhere on Tuesday. People interested in planning an appointment should go to Walgreens.com/ScheduleVaccine.

Since the pandemic began, there have been 43,594 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 in Maine, and 658 people have died, according to the Maine CDC. As of Monday, there were 72 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, including 22 in critical care and six in ventilators. The number of hospitalizations has dropped dramatically since reaching a high of 207 on 13 January.

“Overall, there are a lot of positive signs on the horizon,” Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC, said Monday morning on the public radio program “Maine Calling.” Shah did warn that one major risk is the arrival of a more contagious COVID-19 variant – first detected in the UK – which has now been detected in two people in Maine.

But Shah said that with an aggressive vaccination program and continued use of social health measures such as wearing masks, avoiding gatherings and staying physically far away from others, it is possible to keep the variants ahead and drive business away. He pointed out that the UK had done a good job of curbing the spread of the variant through aggressive vaccination and some early restrictive measures.

“What tells me is that it is not inevitable to be overwhelmed by the new variants,” Shah said.

The slowdown in new cases and hospitalizations comes as COVID-19 vaccinations increase in Maine, with 296,253 total shots, including 200,322 first-dose and 95,931 second-dose. Those who received at least the first dose of the vaccine make up 14.9 percent of Maine’s 1.3 million people.

For the elderly – a major focus of vaccine vaccination since mid-January – 103,198 of the approximately 193,000 Mainers aged 70 and over have now received at least the first dose of the vaccine. There are an estimated 90,000 Mainers in the 65-69 age group.

Maine is getting a 14 percent increase in vaccine doses for this week, with more than 27,000 doses. In addition, the federal government’s pharmacy partnership is expected to double the number of doses available in Maine this week at Walmart, Sam’s Club and now Walgreens, from about 4,300 doses per week available to those 70 and older to nearly 9,000 doses.

That leaves Maine with about 36,000 doses to administer this week. That’s about twice as much as late last month, when Maine regularly received about 18,000 doses a week.

Shah said that although doses of vaccination are higher, stocks are still the biggest constraint to immunize more groups of people, such as younger people and frontline workers, including teachers. He said if the offer comes up in the coming weeks, the state could open the doors for widespread vaccination.

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