Vaccine eligibility expands to 60+
ELLSWORTH Maine has received 11,500 doses of the now FDA emergency use-approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for distribution across the state, and an additional 3,500 doses exclusively for Hannaford pharmacies, including the Ellsworth location. Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the J&J one requires one dose instead of two. It does not require storage in extreme sub-zero temperatures.
“It’s the type of vaccine we can bring to individuals, rather than asking individuals to come to the vaccine,” said Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Executive Director Dr. Nirav Shah at a March 2 media briefing.
The vaccine was shown to be 72 percent effective overall in the United States and nearly 86 percent effective against severe forms of the disease, according to analysis released by the FDA. Shah noted the J&J vaccine has also shown it is effective against the new variants spreading across the globe, perhaps above the approx
COVID-19 vaccination plan updated; outbreak at Maine Coast Hospital
ELLSWORTH Maine residents are receiving the COVID-19 vaccination but slowly. A total of 53,511 frontline health-care and other workers and residents of long-term care and nursing home facilities have been vaccinated since late December, with 8,493 of them receiving the required second dose, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Executive Director Dr. Nirav Shah said at a Jan. 13 press briefing.
However, Maine is receiving a limited and unpredictable number of doses each week.
“We were getting more doses of vaccines at the end of December than we are right now,” Shah said.