Governor Janet Mills Addresses the Press at The Downs, Scarborough, a Major Vaccination Clinic in Southern Maine, Recently.

Heather, a Social Worker in a Hospice, Wears a Face Covering She Bought at Etsy – On-line.  It’s Decorated with Chickens and She Does a Great Imitation of Chickens As Well!

Long-Time Munjoy Hill Resident Kevin Brown Sports a Face Covering That Declares Him a Social Distancing Champ!  Congrats, Kevin!

In line with President Biden’s directive, Governor Janet Mills announced today that her Administration is accelerating the schedule of Maine’s vaccination plan to make all Maine adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccine by May 1st.

Following the President’s directive last night during his address to the nation, the planned vaccine schedule is now as follows:

MARCH 3:  Age 60 and older; APRIL 1:  Age 50 and older; MAY 1:  ALL ADULTS.

The Pfizer vaccine is authorized for those who are sixteen (16) years of age or older and the Moderna vaccine for those who are eighteen (18) years of age or older.

Maine is also implementing the Biden Administration’s directive to vaccinate teachers, school staff and licensed child care workers.  Beginning today, Friday, March 12, 2021, the Maine Department of Education and Health and Human Services are hosting vaccination clinics for Maine teachers age 60 and older.

“From the day we received our first shipment of vaccines, we have been determined to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, focusing our limited supply first on those who are most at risk of dying from COVID-19. With the Biden Administration promising to increase the supply of vaccine in the next few months, we will do what we had always hoped we could: accelerate our vaccine timeline,” said Governor Janet Mills in a press release issued  early this afternoon.  “As the Biden Administration works to get us shots, we will continue our work to get them into arms.  The future is getting brighter, but there is more to do and my Administration will continue to work with the President and with health care providers across the state to get people vaccinated and move us closer to getting us back to normal.”

In announcing Maine’s age-based vaccination approach two weeks ago, Governor Mills said the timeframe could be accelerated based on an increase in supply of vaccine.  (Please see post herein dated February 26, 2021 for more information on the Governor’s “Age-Based Vaccination Approach.”)

The Mills Administration continues to take steps to expand the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine in Mane, including setting up large-scale vaccination sites – most recently in Portland and Sanford – that are prepared to expand their capacity to get shots into arms with an increase in the supply of vaccine from the Federal government.

To date, more than 302,000 Maine people have received their first dose of the vaccine – more than 22% of our population, with more than 13% being fully vaccinated.  To date, approximately 55% of Maine people aged 60 or older have received at least a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, with 27% completing the series.  In Maine, 98% of deaths from COVID-19 have been people aged 50 and older.

Despite having the oldest median age population in the country, Maine, adjusted for population, ranks third lowest in total number of cases and fourth lowest in the number of deaths from COVID-19, according to the US CDC.  The state’s seven-day testing volume is fifth best in the nation and the state’s seven-day positivity rate is the lowest in the nation, according to Johns Hopkins, testing tracker.  Additionally, according to Moody’s Analytics and the CNN Business’s “Back to Normal Index,” Maine is best in New England in returning to pre-pandemic economic activity.