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The thousands of vials of COVID-19 vaccine that arrived in Maine this week came with an unexpected bonus – each contains at least one extra dose.
Maine and other states effectively received 20 percent more doses than expected in the first round of shipments, allowing hospitals to protect more front-line workers as part of the initial vaccine rollout, said Robert Long, spokesman for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Maine CDC informed hospitals of this change as soon as the (Food and Drug Administration) announced it yesterday,” Long said on Thursday. “Given the supply shortage of COVID vaccine, the availability of approximately 20 percent more Pfizer vaccine is welcome and significant news.”