States add online vaccine registries as Maine plans to expand the vaccine

As Maine continues to immunize health workers for COVID-19, it is also planning the next steps to increase the scale of vaccination, including the introduction of an online tool so people can plan their shots.

Government officials are also continuing with the details of which population groups should be next in line for the vaccine.

Maine reported 597 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, a sharp increase over the previous three days. Nine extra Maine people were killed by COVID-19.

Meanwhile, people in states like New Jersey can pre-register for a COVID-19 vaccine. Other states and cities are considering similar plans for online registries.

Maine is also planning a pre-registration program for the availability of vaccines, said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a news conference on Monday.

Shah said the online tool, which will be released later, is aimed at preventing long queues at vaccinations, which could expose people to COVID-19 while they wait to be immunized. Shah said the idea is to finish much of the required paperwork before people show up to be vaccinated.

“What we really want to do is try to do as much of the pre-work as possible in advance,” Shah said. “We want people to get in and serve to keep exposure risks as low as possible.”

The Mills administration is still determining the details of Phase 1B, the next step in the vaccination program. The Maine CDC hopes to announce Phase 1B decisions soon, agency spokesman Robert Long said Tuesday while refusing to roster.

Maine is likely to move from Phase 1A in February, which includes health care workers, paramedics and staff and residents of nursing homes, to Phase 1B, which could put people 75 years and older and essential workers at risk. Phase 1A contains 130,000 Mainers, while Phase 1B contains 200,000 additional people. Together, they represent about 25 percent of Maine’s population. To date, more than 35,000 Maine residents have received the first dose of the vaccine.

Groups are scrambling to get as high as possible on the Maine CDC’s vaccination priority list, as the Mills government still details who gets the vaccine and when it comes up.

Shah said Monday there could be shifts within 1B to prioritize the oldest Mainers who are most vulnerable to dying of COVID-19 and to group essential workers based on risk. Necessary workers at the front are likely to include teachers, police officers, postal workers, workers at food processing plants and grocery stores. Thus, some essential workers at the front may be one of the first to receive the vaccines in February, while others will wait longer.

Steve Hewins, president and CEO of HospitalityMaine, which represents the tourism industry, said restaurant and hotel employees, currently listed in Phase 1C by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, should be moved to 1B. He said these employees should get their shots fired at grocery stores at the same time because they have similar risk levels.

The American CDC places restaurant and hotel workers in Phase 1C based on exposure risk and how critical the industries are to a functioning society. But states have not always followed U.S. CDC guidelines on who to vaccinate first.

For example, Florida and Texas are now starting to vaccinate seniors, while Massachusetts immunize police officers and correctional officers in front of grocery store employees. The US CDC recommends that groceries be vaccinated in the same phase as police officers and corrections.

Hewins said the hospitality industry is in its “darkest days” and “vaccinations of employees will be the cause of getting the industry back on its feet.” He said hotels are also considered essential for the provision of places where people can sit in quarantine and shelter homeless people during the pandemic.

Tim Rich, owner of The Independent Cafe in Bar Harbor, said the restaurant industry is the ‘backbone of the tourist economy’.

“It’s hard to find employees right now because people are scared,” Rich said. His cafe is currently closed for the season, but he hopes to open it in late March or early April. “If a lot of people can be vaccinated, everyone will feel comfortable entering our restaurant, whether it’s employees going to work or our customers.”

Long, the Maine CDC spokesman, said “no final decision has been made” on which job categories will be defined as “essential workers” to be vaccinated under Phase 1B.

“We appreciate input from HospitalityMaine and similar groups as we continue to vaccinate under Phase 1A with speed and equity under the state’s vaccination plan, and as we finalize plans for 1B,” Long said in an email in response to questions. said.

Long generally said how quickly Maine can vaccinate its population depends on how quickly the federal government can send the doses of vaccines to the states. So far, Maine has been receiving about 15,000 to 20,000 doses per week, while Shah said the state needs about 50,000 doses per week to reduce the restrictions on vaccine administration.

Shah also said older Mainers could get a quick priority, but talks among government officials continue.

Jane Margesson, communications director of AARP in Maine, said ‘all older Mainers should be put first’, but the organization is awaiting the Mills administration’s decision on Phase 1B.

‘Although there are many discussions about older people versus essential workers, AARP is focused on ensuring that all older Americans are given preference for vaccination. “Here in Maine, for example, many older people are essential workers,” Margesson said. “The vaccination of people who are likely to end up in hospital alleviates the burden on communities’ healthcare systems; a big problem here in Maine, especially in our most rural provinces. ”

Since the pandemic began, 26,565 people in Maine have tested positive for COVID-19, with 369 deaths.

Shah told a news conference on Monday that Maine may have experienced a backlog in reported cases in the first few days of the new year, not only because labs are catching up with the state health agency results of the holiday, but also people possibly postponed to test during the New Year’s holiday.

There were 376 new COVID-19 cases reported on Monday, 350 on Sunday and 342 on Saturday, but in the last week of 2020, Maine experienced a number of cases in the upper 500s and 700s per day. The seven-day daily average of new cases stood at 522.3 on Tuesday, compared to 452.3 a week ago and 262.7 a month ago.

As of Tuesday, 35,536 Mainers had received at least the first dose of the vaccine.

There are currently 191 people admitted to the hospital in Maine, with 50 in critical care.

Shah said a more contagious variant of COVID-19 has not yet been detected in Maine, but it’s probably just a “matter of time” before it arrives. A few states have tracked down the new tribe, including Colorado, California and New York. Shah said the vaccine will still be very effective against the new variant, but knowing that it is more contagious makes wearing masks and social distance even more important.

The deaths the Maine CDC listed Tuesday, which includes a person whose land was not yet available Monday, were a man in his 80s from Aroostook County; a woman in her 80s from Aroostook County; two men in their 70s from Cumberland County; a man in his 70s from Penobscot County; a woman in her 70s from Somerset County; a man in his 80s from York County; a woman in her 70s from York County; and two women in their nineties from York County.

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