Nearly 1 in 8 Maine residents is now fully vaccinated against COVID-19

State health officials on Wednesday reported 195 new cases of COVID-19, but no additional deaths, as nearly 1 in 8 Maine residents has now been completely vaccinated against the virus.

The daily case average of seven days stood at 167, slightly higher than 148 cases two weeks ago, or one incubation period ago. This time last month, the average number of daily cases was 234. Businesses peaked above 600 per day in mid-January.

Since the Maine pandemic reached nearly one year ago, there have been 46,254 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 and 723 deaths, according to data detected by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The state added 17 deaths to the total on Tuesday after conducting the latest review of death certificates to see if COVID-19 was a factor in the death that has not yet been reported to the CDC.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 slightly increased to 75 on Wednesday, including 25 in critical care and nine in a ventilator. Hospitalizations have flattened over the past three weeks after gradually declining from a peak of more than 200 in mid-January. Throughout the pandemic, 1,583 Maine residents were admitted to the hospital at one point.

Cases and hospitalizations are also declining in many states after several consecutive weeks of sharp declines, although this has not prevented some countries from easing pandemic restrictions. Janet Mills, governor of Maine, last week relaxed the travel requirements for residents of the states of New England coming to Maine. Later this month, capacity for indoor and outdoor events will increase, and pubs and tasting rooms will open on March 26.

By the end of the day Tuesday, 446,226 COVID-19 vaccine shots had been administered in Maine. Of these, 283,688 were first shots, which accounted for 21 percent of the state’s population, and 162,538, just over 12 percent, were second doses. Individuals who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one shot, are included in the state’s second doses.

About 3 out of 4 Mainers over 70 have now received their first dose and 37 percent have been fully vaccinated. Last week, individuals between the ages of 60 and 69 were considered, a group that includes nearly 200,000. In addition, teachers, school staff and childcare workers were also eligible following a mandate from the Biden administration. That group has a little over 50,000 individuals.

Maine increased its daily vaccinations this week to more than 10,000 doses and improved its status among other states, according to a state-by-state survey by Bloomberg News. As of Tuesday, Maine was in tenth place among the states in percentage of residents who were fully vaccinated, and 8th in percentage of the population that received one dose.

These gains come despite the fact that about 20 percent fewer doses of vaccine were delivered to Maine this week. Johnson & Johnson had cleared its stock a week earlier – 15,000 of the doses had come to Maine alone – and had not yet fully replenished them. The director of Maine, CDC, dr. Nirav Shah, said on Tuesday that he expects the next two weeks to see a moderate increase in doses to the state and then larger increases in late March and early April.

The Biden government was prepared to announce on Wednesday that the US would buy another 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, in addition to the 100 million doses the company had contracted by the end of June.

The Department of Health and Human Services, Maine, on Tuesday announced a new program to offer free vaccine deliveries to individuals with transportation challenges. Rides are available every day from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Sundays, and can be scheduled by calling 1-855-608-5172.

This story will be updated.

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