About 55% of Maine s COVID-related deaths were people in long-term care
Republican State Senator Brad Farrin called for more funding for Maine s long-term care facilities and nursing homes, which have faced the brunt of COVID Author: Hannah Dineen (NEWS CENTER Maine) Published: 8:17 PM EDT May 18, 2021 Updated: 9:26 PM EDT May 18, 2021
NORRIDGEWOCK, Maine As Governor Janet Mills announces plans for distributing federal COVID-19 relief, a state senator from Norridgewock is calling for more funding for Maine s long-term care facilities and nursing homes.
Sen. Brad Farrin said those facilities should be a top priority, particularly after what they ve experienced in the past year. It s a prioritization issue, Farrin said, and I think the legislature should have a seat at the table.
Angela Cole Westhoff chosen to lead Maine Health Care Association
The board of directors of the Maine Health Care Association has selected
Angela Cole Westhoff of Sidney to be the association’s next president and chief executive. She will succeed Rick Erb, who is retiring after 20 years with MHCA. Westhoff has most recently served as executive director of the Maine Dental Association and had held a similar position with the Maine Osteopathic Association. Wanda Pelkey, chair of the MHCA board of directors, cited Westhoff’s knowledge and skills as a terrific complement to an experienced and dedicated MHCA team.
Emily Crowley
Can Maine reverse its troubling COVID-19 trend? Experts say yes, but it will take work.
Complying with masking requirements, avoiding social gatherings and improving access to rapid testing will be key factors in avoiding an exponential growth in cases.
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Bob Beaudoin, center, waits in line at Slate’s Bakery in Hallowell with other masked people at a safe social distance on Thursday.
Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
As new COVID-19 cases reached a record for the third consecutive day in Maine, and as fears of uncontrolled community spread mount, a troubling question emerges: Is it too late to reverse course?
Pause in J&J shots raises concerns about vaccine hesitancy in Maine
Worry mounts that a clotting problem with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will increase reluctance, but some remain eager and glad to be inoculated.
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Brian Cirone of Windham had an appointment to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Tuesday morning but got a call about 45 minutes before his scheduled time telling him it was canceled. Cirone now has an appointment Monday to get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, but says he’d take the J&J shot if the federal government allowed it.
Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer
The pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccinations in Maine on Tuesday caused many providers and patients to review and in some cases adjust their efforts to inoculate against COVID-19.
Nursing homes still wait for more vaccine, which could be coming
Maine public health officials move to provide vaccine to long-term care facilities left without allocations while having new residents who are unvaccinated.
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Maine made some progress Monday in addressing the lack of COVID-19 vaccine allocated to long-term care facilities in the wake of the federal pharmacy program that prioritized nursing homes and assisted-living facilities at the start of the vaccine rollout.
Additional vaccine could be available to long-term care facilities as soon as next week, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, after public health officials met with representatives of the state’s nursing homes and assisted-living facilities Monday morning.