On Tuesday, the U.S. CDC is expected to develop recommendations for who should get the updated COVID-19 vaccine, which could be available in Maine this week or next.
As the number of people in the hospital with COVID ticks up in Maine, Dr. Dora Anne Mills, chief health improvement officer for MaineHealth, urges anyone who is eligible to get the updated vaccine, similar to getting the annual flu shot.
"It's really becoming a lot like influenza, except COVID is still much deadlier," she says. "Even the current circulating variants are four times deadlier than influenza."
Mills says the COVID vaccine will be available at large health systems and pharmacy chains as well as Federally Qualified Health Centers. It will no longer be universally free, but Mills says most insurance will cover it. And she says federal websites are expected to provide resources for where people without insurance can receive the vaccine.
