New federal guidelines unlikely to speed up vaccination in Maine

Unless the pace of vaccination accelerates, Maine will not be able to take advantage of new federal guidelines that will soon open the door to COVID-19 vaccination for adults under the age of 65 in high-risk health.

The dose delivered to the state comes at a fraction of the pace promised by the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed, and Maine receives about 18,000 doses a week.

Unless the pace accelerates rapidly, Maine and other countries will not have sufficient supplies to deliver vaccines to people over the age of 65, regardless of policy. Elderly people aged 65 and over make up 21% of Maine’s 1.3 million population, or about 270,000. At the current pace, it will take three to four months from now to give the first dose of the vaccine to everyone over the age of 65.

To date, Maine has received 58,083 vaccinations, including 51,150 first doses and 6,933 second doses.

Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Welfare for the Trump administration, told the state at a press conference on Tuesday that “all people over the age of 65 and all under the age of 65 should be vaccinated. “.

CDC officials in Maine did not immediately answer questions about the new federal recommendations.

On Tuesday, the state reported 11 more deaths and 715 new cases of COVID-19.

Currently, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (a division of DHHS) recommends gradual vaccination, but many states deviate from federal guidelines.

The US CDC recommended that people aged 65-74 be vaccinated in Phase 1C and people aged 75 and over be vaccinated in 1B. Maine is currently immunizing Group 1A, which includes health care workers, staff, residents of nursing homes and emergency care workers, with a total of approximately 130,000 participants.

Also, the new federal policy is to ship the second vaccine immediately, rather than keeping the second vaccination in reserve.

2 days later Relatively small number, including 313 new cases At 273 on Monday and Sunday, the total number of cases reported on Tuesday in Maine returned higher than was common in December and earlier this month.

The daily average for the seven days on Tuesday was 537.3, but a week ago it was 522.3 and a month ago it was 367.9.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Maine has reported 30,326 cases of COVID-19 and 449 deaths.

According to Bloomberg News vaccine trackers, Maine has the third highest COVID-19 vaccination rate in the country, four times per 100 inhabitants after West Virginia and South Dakota.

Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the main CDC, is working with hospitals to deliver the vaccine quickly, as reported in several other states on Monday, and doses are shelved. He said he wasn’t.

Phase 1B, scheduled to begin in February, currently includes seniors over the age of 75 and frontline essential workers such as police officers, teachers, postal workers, and grocery store clerks. However, Shah says it is still under discussion as to which group will be at the forefront in Phase 1B.

Many families are asking the state to put older people at the forefront rather than key workers.

Sheri Testa, Connecticut, whose parents live in Brunswick in their 90s, said older people should be a very high priority for the main CDC, and it’s already been told when they can get COVID-19 shots. He said it should be.

“I was very angry because I couldn’t protect them,” Testa said.

Testa’s mother, Jane White, 92, said she and her 98-year-old husband, Bad, would be happy to wait until their turn.

“There are people who are more important than our group,” said Jane White. Bud White raided Utah Beach as part of the US Army’s invasion of D-Day during World War II. “They will go to us as much as possible. You just have to put up with it because they can’t do too much anyway until they get more vaccine.”

High-risk health conditions for key workers and adolescents in Phase 1C, ages 65-74, are not expected to begin until spring, but vaccination of the general population can occur in late spring or summer. ..

Mr Shah said the state is still working on plans to host a mass vaccination event. This is a logistical challenge given the risk of infection at large meetings. Mass vaccination events can be held at civic centers, schools, or community centers.

This story will be updated.

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