Island Ad-Vantages, January 21, 2021 and The Weekly Packet, January 21, 2021 Mainers over 70 starting to get the vaccine Northern Light Blue Hill Hospital giving shots by Leslie Landrigan Northern Light Blue Hill Hospital and other Maine health centers began giving the COVID-19 vaccine to patients 70 and older for the first time on January 18, when the state gave the go-ahead for the “1bs” to be vaccinated. Up until then, the vaccines only went to the “1as”—health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. The news that Mainers 70 and older could get the vaccine came as a surprise, said Anne Schroth, program director for Healthy Peninsula.