State health officials on Tuesday reported 182 new cases of COVID-19, without additional deaths, on a day when two mass vaccination clinics opened in southern Maine.
The new sites were unveiled at the Portland Expo, run by Northern Light Health, and at the former Marshalls store in Sanford, run by MaineHealth. Residents between the ages of 60 and 69 can start shooting from Wednesday. Another mass vaccination site, at the Auburn Mall, will open on March 17. The Auburn site is operated by Central Maine Healthcare and has a capacity of 1,000 patients per day.
And Hannaford Supermarkets has announced that it will begin vaccinating COVID-19 at 35 pharmacies in Maine later this week.
Meanwhile, the head of the Maine Education Association Teachers Union is now urging governments Janet Mills to reconsider the decision to pursue an age-based vaccination program.
Grace Leavitt, president of the MEA, expressed support for the plan last week, but said in a letter to Mills on Monday that “many of our educators are extremely upset and angry that not all educators are being prioritized to receive vaccinations now. not.’
Leavitt also encouraged Mills to prioritize school staff with high-risk medical conditions and staff working with special education students. The Mills plan has clinics for school staff, but will still be age-based, so in March, only teachers 60 years and older will receive the vaccine.
From left, Brie Colville, a pharmacist, Nick Bloom and Hollie Maloney, both certified pharmacy technicians, prepared syringes of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine before opening the doors on the first day of the Northern Light Mercy Hospital’s massive vaccination clinic in the Portland Expo opens. On Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Maloney said they were preparing about 500 doses for the day. Brianna Soukup / Staff Photographer
Regardless of priority issues, a record number of doses are arriving in Maine this week. The two new mass sites are open as Maine’s vaccination program is underway, with more than 55,000 doses expected to be sent to the state this week, including 15,000 doses of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Overall, Maine gave 355,810 doses, including 231,353 first doses, representing 17.21 percent of the population.
Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Maine Health Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew will inform the media today at 1 p.m. Shah said that if Maine could regularly receive about 50,000 doses a week, it would no longer be limited by supplies to vaccinate the population.
Since the pandemic began, Maine has recorded 44,944 positive cases of COVID-19 and 703 deaths.
In addition to the mass vaccination centers, which also include Scarborough Downs and the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, people aged 60 and over can make an appointment for vaccination at one of more than 70 Walmart, Sam’s Club or Walgreens locations. .
Last week, Mills introduced a new age-based system for the vaccination program, with people 60 years and older eligible at 1, 40 and older 1, 30 and older and 1 and 16-29 June starting in July. . The timeline could accelerate as stock vaccination increases.
In the previous plan, those with high-risk health conditions were prioritized but were scrapped in favor of an age plan. Mills and Shah defend the move, arguing that age is the biggest risk factor for COVID-19. Other groups, such as some teachers and hospitality workers, also criticized the plan.
Hilary Koch, of Waterville, whose family has high-risk health risks, said the state has been saying all along that high-risk people will be given preference just to pull the rug out from under them last week.
“For every person at high risk, I’m sorry, but this policy does not serve them – it really does not work and it puts them at the back of the queue,” Koch said. “I feel deceived and feel that people with medical disabilities have been deceived.”
The current hospitalizations in Maine were 69 on Tuesday, an increase of seven from the previous day, with 25 in critical care.
This story will be updated
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