AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine will consider coronavirus vaccination for about 200,000 residents between the ages of 60 and 69 from Wednesday and change the priority thereafter to age-only, governments Janet Mills said Friday.
Mainers 50 years and older are eligible for April, 40 and older in May, 30 and older in June and younger Mainers thereafter. The age-based system replaces a previous plan to prioritize adults with underlying conditions, as well as a number of front-line workers after the age of 70 and older who are currently eligible, and would be the only ones in the country exactly like this.
Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday that the move to an age-based approach is based on data suggesting that age – even more so than serious underlying medical conditions – is the strongest predictor of serious illness. . Ninety-eight percent of virus deaths in Maine are in people older than 50, he noted. Maine is the oldest state in the country by median age.
“We found that the data repeatedly referred to age as the strong indication of death or severity of illness,” Shah said.
The change will also make it easier for the state to quickly administer additional vaccines, citing concerns that occupation-based categories will be more time-consuming to verify, Mills said. The Democratic governor noted that vaccines could be extended to younger Mainers sooner if the state’s capacity continues to increase.
“It replaces the prospect of complicated rules as appropriate based on your type of job or on specific medical conditions. The verification I am very concerned about will become difficult to implement and may inadvertently delay the process,” Mills said.
Maine will also set up specific vaccine clinics for K-12 teachers, said Jeanne Lambrew, commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services. But there is no priority for teachers or other new professions. They can only be vaccinated if they are eligible according to age.
The transition to an age-based system distinguishes Maine. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit health research organization, no other state has been taken after one after residents of nursing homes and certain essential workers were vaccinated. California announced in late January a switch to an age-based system, but returned, allowing adults with certain health conditions to be vaccinated along with older people, CalMatters reported.
However, some states have followed similar approaches. Connecticut uses primarily age-based criteria, Governor Ned Lamont announced last week, but is also vaccinating K-12 teachers and child care workers. Rhode Island does not give priority to workers other than health care workers and first responders, but plans to vaccinate adults with certain conditions after being vaccinated at age 60 and older.
Mills acknowledged that Maine’s plan differed from other states, but argued that the approach would benefit “most people nominated the fastest”, given the state’s older population. Maine has the oldest median age of any U.S. state, about seven years higher than the median age nationally.
But the change will hurt younger people with serious health conditions, who may have to wait longer than they would according to the state’s previous plan. Kim Moody, executive director of Disability Rights Maine, was disappointed with the change and heard from many parents on Friday afternoon who were “so upset” about the switch.
“People with disabilities, and parents of children with severe disabilities, really hoped that they would get the vaccine and thus be able to enter society in an inclusive way, and now they are learning that they have a few more months,” she said.
The change of priority comes a day after the state announced a significant increase in its weekly allocation of vaccines from the federal government, and as U.S. regulators consider approving a new Johnson & Johnson vaccine that could speed up the process.
As of Friday, more than 217,000 Mainers had received first doses, while 110,000 had received second doses. The initial implementation of the state was on nursing home residents, health care workers, first responders and certain other workers who are considered important for the virus’ response. Maine expanded its vaccinations to residents 70 years and older in mid-January, and now vaccinated more than 60 percent of people older than that age, Mills noted Friday.
Northern Light Health in Bangor, the state’s second largest health system, was already offer appointments at Mainers 60 years and older Friday afternoon.