Mills’ Government’s Plan to Change Vaccines to Age-Based Fitness Gets Mixed Response

Maine’s updated plan to vaccinate residents against COVID-19, based on age, drew mixed reactions from industries that expressed hope that their workers would soon move to the forefront.

Within the state’s hospitality industry, there is little doubt that a majority of workers will have to wait until late spring or early summer according to the state’s new plan in which those in their 60s are eligible next week, followed by the 50 and in April, 40 and older in May, and 30 and more in June. People under the age of thirty will be targeted in July and beyond.

“It’s still a 25 to 40 versus a 50 to 65 demographic, there’s no doubt,” said Greg Dugal, director of government affairs for Hospitality Maine. The state’s largest association of restaurants, bars and accommodation establishments.

The state already has approved vaccines for 70-year-olds and older, and as of next Wednesday, heads of 60 or older will be eligible for their first dose of vaccine, which protects against severe symptoms of the virus that claimed half a million U.S. lives. more than 700 included in Maine.

The state’s decision to prioritize frontline workers in favor of age groups was a blow to teachers, especially with increasing pressure to reopen schools. Government Janet Mills said Friday that while teachers will not be prioritized as a category for workforce, the state will seek to bring vaccination clinics to districts to vaccinate age-qualified teachers.

“We understand how difficult it is for everyone,” G saidrace Leavitt, president of the Maine Education Association, the state teachers’ union. “Prioritizing educators within these groups by offering dedicated vaccination opportunities to expedite the reception of a COVID-19 vaccine will provide our teachers, our students and our communities with extra security.”

To date, according to Education Week, 31 states have been eligible for vaccine for teachers.

Dugal said hospitality workers were at the forefront throughout the pandemic and their ability to keep the doors open, often in limited capacities, was critical to keeping Maine’s economy on track.

‘So they’re doing badly, and if you look at a restaurant, how many places do you go where a worker is dealing with a person without a mask? The only other place I can think of regularly is a dental office, ‘he said. “There is no doubt in our minds that (hospitality workers) should move to the front of the queue.”

Briana Volk, owner of Portland’s Hunt and Alpine Club, took to Twitter on Friday to express her disappointment, noting that her restaurant would remain closed. She is also concerned about friends and peers working in unsafe environments, some of whom have contracted COVID-19.

‘By allowing restaurants and bars to be open for indoor dining and not vaccinating the workers, Maine tells us all that the people who are the reason for one of the largest industries in our state are not as important as sweet,’ not sweet foreign tourist cash, ”Volk tweeted.

And while some like Volk were deeply disappointed in Friday’s news, Dugal acknowledged that the new plan provides clarity to Maine’s distribution policy on vaccines and that it could streamline efforts going forward.

“The grid is pretty aggressive,” he said. “If they can reach the roster, everyone will be vaccinated for all time by the time the real busy time is vaccinated.”

Curtis Picard, president and CEO of the Retail Association of Maine, agreed with Dugal that the plan presented Friday does provide clarity and ease confusion about who is eligible for the vaccine and when.

“I’m glad the government is clear on what the plan is going to do,” Picard said. “And it’s understandable to decide to go by an old system.”

Picard said there are about 80,000 employees in Maine’s retail industry in large and small stores across the state, and that they, like those in the hospitality industry, remain at the forefront throughout the pandemic.

He said other questions about the vaccine, including advice and recommendations on how those can be vaccinated, and what requirements the state will have on visitors who are vaccinated for the coming summer, are still largely unanswered.

Picard said Mills has been vaccinated, that he wants to see the governor a little more in public ‘to rebuild consumer confidence that those vaccinated can fully participate in the economy again.

Christine Cummings, executive director of the Maine Grocers and Food Producers Association, said her industry is also pleased to get a clearer picture of how vaccines will be distributed.

“Throughout the pandemic, it has been a challenge with ever-changing policies to have a good understanding and ability to plan and move forward,” Cummings said. “Regardless of the fact that the specific frontier levels no longer prioritize, it at least gives these businesses and people a clearer path forward.”

Others who offered mixed reactions to the new vaccine plan were the state government’s largest union, Maine Service Employees Association, SEIU Local 1989.

“We appreciate that the governor’s age approach is intended to achieve the greatest benefit for most people in the shortest possible time,” union spokesman Jeff McCabe said Friday. “The sooner everyone is vaccinated, the sooner Maine’s economy can get back on track.”

But McCabe also noted that many front-line state workers who worked throughout the pandemic – including child protection case workers in the Department of Health and Human Services, state crime lab analysts and DOT team managers – are not eligible quickly.

As an example, McCabe said that child protection workers often visit prisons or hospitals as part of their work – workplaces where they can now be the only workers who are not vaccinated.

“They are doing their job at great risk to themselves and their families,” McCabe said. “Yet they still do not have access to vaccines given to first responders with whom they work regularly on a daily basis.”

The state’s two largest health care organizations, MaineHealth and Northern Light Health, have cast their support behind the elderly plan.

“The incidence of serious illnesses and deaths increases with age, and prioritizing in this way is a simple and healthy way to assign vaccine to those at greatest risk,” said Dr. Joan Boomsma, chief medical officer of MaineHealth, the state’s largest health system. said in a prepared statement.

Dr James Jarvis, chief medical officer at Northern Light Health, says the new plan removes complicated barriers to vaccine distribution.

“Ultimately, with a limited amount of vaccine, the efficiency and ease of operation will be able to serve our communities and fellow Mainers better than any other approach that enables us to vaccinate all Mainers faster,” he said.

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