Maine's COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to include many more unvaccinated Mainers than those who have gotten the shots, but the balance has recently shifted.
Speaking on Maine Calling today, state CDC Director Nirav Shah said unvaccinated Mainers used to account for more than 90% of hospitalizations. Now, he says, "It's about 75% on average of people in the hospital who haven't been vaccinated."
Despite the shift, Shah says vaccinations are still effective at preventing serious illness and deaths, which aren't climbing at the same pace as cases.
The state has averaged 80 new cases per day for the last week, the highest it's been since the beginning of June. The positivity rate — or portion of total coronavirus tests that come back positive — is now above 2% compared with less than 0.5% in early July.
