SMHC workers to receive COVID vaccines

BIDDEFORD — Direct care providers at Southern Maine Health Care and other hospitals will receive the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the state this week.

Maine Center for Disease Control Director Nirav Shah said at his Monday afternoon briefing that the first two shipments of the vaccine from Pfizer had arrived in the state that morning. Additional shipments were expected to arrive today.

Shah said that the focus on this first week was those Emergency Medical Technicians and hospital workers who worked closely caring for patients with COVID-19.

MaineHealth, the largest integrated health care system in the state, issued a press release stating that the 1900 doses it expects to receive this week would allow workers in its system that have seen the highest number of COVID-19 patients, including Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford, Maine Medical Center and Mid Coast-Parkview Health.

According to Maine Health officials, the 1900 doses paired with another 15,755 doses scheduled to arrive later this month will provide enough vaccines for all direct care providers in the MaineHealth system.

“We are all anxious to put this pandemic behind us, and the arrival of a vaccine is a real sign of hope,” said MaineHealth’s Chief Medical Officer Joan Boomsma, and CEO Bill Caron in a joint statement. “However, we all must continue to be vigilant, and all precautions will remain in place. We are well supplied across our system with personal protective equipment, and we have a solid plan in place to deal with the surge in cases now under way with the arrival of colder weather.”

Shah said that though the first 1,950 doses arrived in Maine on Monday morning, roughly 2.6 million doses are needed to vaccinate everyone in the state.
“The arrival of this vaccine in Maine represents a light at the end of the tunnel, but even when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, it’s important to remember that you’re still in a tunnel, and blue skies remain a ways away,” he said.

Shah urged Mainers to not let their guard down, and to continue to wear face masks and to practice social distancing and frequent hand washing.

Since the pandemic began in March, there have been 16,349 cases of COVID-19. Of these cases, 14,339 are confirmed and 2,010 are probable. There have been 259 deaths in Maine attributed to COVID-19. There have been 893 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maine and there are 10,548 people who have recovered from the virus.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.