20 people vaccinated at the COVID-19 Clinic at the Scouhegan State Fair

Skowhegan — Four more COVID-19 vaccination clinics hosted by a local hospital at the recently closed Skowhegan State Fair received an additional 24 mainners.

Barbara Demchak, director of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) division at Redington Fairview General Hospital, said 20 people visited the clinic on Monday, most of them when 13 were vaccinated last Friday. Said he came.

“It may seem like a small number, but 24 more have been vaccinated,” Demcak said on Monday.

The 10-day fair, which ended on Saturday, was expected to attract more than 150,000 people.

Demchak said that all but one who received the COVID-19 vaccine chose the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine and the other patient received the double-dose modelna vaccine. ..

Vaccinated people reflected “a wide range of representatives of Maine” and a wide range of people. She added that about four out of 24 people are residents of Somerset County, which maintains the lowest vaccination coverage in Maine.

“We hit a very wide group,” said Demcak. “We didn’t know what to expect and it was difficult to know what to plan.”

The group included four carnival workers, five college students and one college student, all of whom were obliged to be vaccinated, Demchak said.

“They accepted it as an easy way to get the vaccinations they needed,” she said.

News of vaccines given during the fair came as a hospitalization in Maine Jumped over the weekend From Friday 98 to Monday 123, including 61 in critical beds and 25 in ventilators.

On Saturday, the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported another 205 cases of COVID-19 and two deaths, continuing the recent surge in infectious diseases and hospitalizations throughout the state.

State CDC data as of Monday since the start of the pandemic showed 2,469 COVID-19 cases, 35 deaths, and 91 hospitalizations in Somerset County. That number represents an increase of 113 cases, additional deaths, and eight hospitalizations. Report after August 5th..

The data also showed that about 56% of Somerset County’s population was fully vaccinated, compared to 70.44% of the state’s population. Somerset County remained the lowest vaccinated in Maine.

Initially, no vaccination clinic was planned at the Scouhegan State Fair, but after the hospital’s EMS department offered to host the clinic, 4 clinics During the event.

“Anyway, we were at the fair and saw the vaccine clinic as an opportunity,” said Demcak. “There are events at the fair that require an EMS presence every day, and I thought,” Well, make the most of your time there. ” “

According to Demcak, the hospital’s EMS department continues to work to increase vaccinations, including immunizing almost everyone involved in public security throughout the county. This includes employees of the Emergency Operations Center at Somerset Communications Center and Jackman’s border guards and guardians.

In addition, the EMS department participates in Bingham’s public vaccine clinic and makes referral home visits for those returning home.

A walk-in clinic is also offered at the Redington Fairview every Thursday from 3:30 pm to 5 pm through the hospital’s pharmacy department. People over the age of 18 will appear without reservation and will have the option of either a two-dose Moderna vaccine or a J & J single-dose option.

Other trade fairs in the state are also considering offering clinics. Bangor State Fair earlier this month We provided Pfizer and J & J vaccines.

In an announcement last week, the Main CDC reported that the clinic will be offered at the Union Fair, which is scheduled for Thursday from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.

The clinic is free and no reservations are required. Those who receive the vaccine will be given a free pass to the fair.

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