What Mainers should know about the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines
By Staff Report
Who has vaccines in Maine?
Two Maine hospitals received doses Monday morning, the first shipments to the state. Northern Light Mercy Hospital in Portland and Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor each received 975 doses.
Who is next?
Five other large hospitals are expecting deliveries Tuesday. Those range from 1,885 doses for Maine Medical Center in Portland to 215 doses for A.R. Gould Hospital in Presque Isle.
Who will get the vaccine injections and when?
The vaccines delivered to hospitals will be used to protect front-line health care workers who are most at risk of exposure. They include the people who work in intensive care units, emergency departments and COVID-19 units, and it ranges from doctors and nurses to housekeeping staff and dietitians.
Alternatives: 444
Maine’s current trend of high COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths is likely to continue, and could get worse, before vaccines have a chance to slow the virus’ spread.
For the sixth time in the last nine days, state health officials reported more than 400 cases on Tuesday. In addition to the 411 new cases, six more individuals died.
The seven-day daily average of new cases rose to 388 on Tuesday, compared to 298 a week ago, 181 a month ago and 28 cases two months ago. In all, there have been 16,760 confirmed or probable cases since the pandemic reached Maine. That number has more than tripled in the last two months. Active cases now sit at 5,881 – compared to 2,098 at this time last month and 619 in mid-October.
Maine Welcomes Its First Vaccine Doses As State CDC Adds 2 Deaths, 426 COVID-19 Cases mainepublic.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mainepublic.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
No letup in surge: Maine reports 411 new virus cases, 6 more deaths
Vaccines continue to roll into Maine this week, but the sobering trends are expected to last a while longer.
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Maine’s seven-day average of new cases rises to 388, up from 298 a week ago, 181 a month ago and 28 cases two months ago.
New cases are reported in every Maine county, with 152 in Cumberland County and 121 in York County, where an outbreak includes 35 staff members and 14 patients at York Hospital.
Despite the surge, Maine has the second-lowest rate in New England, at 27.6 cases per 100,000 population on a seven-day average, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute.
Dr. Shah warns: ‘Let’s not forget the storm, even as the sun is emerging.’
Maine reported 426 cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths Monday, the day the first doses of vaccine arrived at hospitals.
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Maine’s CDC director says it will be months before coronavirus vaccines become widely available, and people should keep following good public health practices while waiting for the time when they are.
The state’s total of 42 deaths so far in December is outpacing the 67 deaths recorded in November, which previously was the worst month in Maine for COVID-19 deaths.
Maine reaches another peak for hospitalizations, with 198 COVID-19 inpatients on Monday, 56 of them in intensive care.