The COVID-19 vaccination rate in Maine is one of the highest per capita in the United States.

More people than the virus are currently vaccinated against COVID-19 in Maine.

About 46,600 mainners Vaccinated as of FridayAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Maine. This represents nearly 3.5 percent of the state’s population. At least 3,271 of the vaccinated people have been vaccinated for the second time.

By comparison, as of Friday, 28,400 mainners have confirmed or estimated cases of COVID-19. More than 1,100 people were hospitalized and 426 died.

Thursday was the deadliest day in the country, killing more than 4,000 people. In addition, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading infectious disease expert in the United States, Predicted to worsen Before it gets better. On Friday, 41 COVID-19 deaths reported in Maine — The highest number of deaths per day in the state. But they didn’t all happen in one day. Six of the 41 have died in the last 48 hours. The remaining 35 died between December 2nd and 28th, and after the main CDC reviewed the death certificate, it was found to be associated with COVID-19.

According to the report, more than 6.2 million vaccines have been distributed nationwide, which is sufficient to vaccinate 1.9 percent of the US population. Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker.. Approximately 29 percent of the dose distributed to the state was administered. Worldwide, 17.5 million doses have been administered in 38 countries.

According to data from Bloomberg, which has been vaccinated approximately 42,000 times in Maine, only three states have a high proportion of the vaccinated population. According to the US CDC, the rankings in Maine were slightly different. 8th highest vaccination rate Friday.

Maine is still in Phase 1a of vaccine deployment focused on healthcare professionals. Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the main CDC, said this phase is likely to continue throughout the month. The goal is to vaccinate all healthcare professionals and caregivers by February. The next steps include front-line key workers, people with high-risk medical conditions, and the elderly.

Portland Press Herald and Kevin Millar Reported on December 28 Physicians and healthcare providers who are not connected to large hospital systems felt left out of the initial vaccination deployment, despite working in a high-risk environment. Shah said at a recent press conference that the main CDC has begun to expand the range of people who can be vaccinated, but efforts have been hampered by less than expected vaccination allocations for the second straight week.

At the time of the latest allocation, Maine has distributed 81,850 COVID-19 vaccines to 84 different hospitals, facilities, and programs. (See below for a list of places where vaccines are distributed.)

The Main CDC expects to receive 17,175 doses during the week of January 11. This is only 100 times more than last week’s dose. Of these doses, 8,775 are expected to be Pfizer vaccine doses and 8,400 are expected to be modelna vaccine doses.

Maine Vaccine pre-registration program This could include online tools for signing up for shots as a way to speed up the process and eliminate long lines. The agency has not yet announced when the system will boot.

Public health officials say vaccinated people should wear masks, stay socially distant, and avoid meetings. Vaccines have been shown to reduce the symptoms of COVID-19, but it is unclear whether they will prevent the spread of the virus. Experts also recommend vaccines for people infected with COVID-19.Answers to additional frequently asked questions Found here..

On January 4, Mr. Shah said he was concerned about at least new mutants of COVID-19 detected in multiple countries. 7 states.. All viruses mutate, he said. “That’s what the virus does.” But this new strain is noteworthy because it is more contagious and spreads faster than current strains. This means that this new strain has an increased risk of infection after being exposed to the virus. And an infected person is more likely to infect others.

However, people infected with the new strain are less ill than the current strain, and the current vaccine is likely to be “need to be monitored, but very effective against this new strain,” Shah said. He said.

Experts are looking for a variant in Maine, but it hasn’t been detected, Shah said. It’s likely a matter of time.

“This new strain spreads like any other current COVID-19 strain. It’s good at spreading,” Shah said. “But the tools I’ve used so far (face mask and physical distance) are as effective as preventing infection with this new strain, and given how fast it seems to spread, these Tools are becoming more important than ever. If the virus doesn’t reach you in the first place, the virus can’t make you sick. “

Ultimately, vaccines are the best defense, Shah said, but that’s not the only protection. Shah said at a later press conference that at least three vaccines under development or review had been added. They include one from the partnership between AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, one from the biotechnology company Novavax, and three from Johnson & Johnson in partnership with Janssen. Janssen is a pharmaceutical company owned by Johnson & Johnson.

Also, at the first press conference in 2021, Shah looked back at the numbers that the main CDC achieved during the pandemic.

5,500 unique PPE orders processed by the Public Health Emergency Response Team.

4.5 million individual PPE items offered to healthcare providers.

226,000 COVID-19 tests conducted by Augusta’s main CDC laboratory.

1.1 million COVID-19 tests conducted in state-wide laboratories — nearly one test per person in the state.

20,217 consultation requests answered by the epidemiology team.

50,000 calls from Maine, including questions about COVID-19, answered by 2-1-1, a 24/7 information and resource hotline in Maine.