vaccination

Maine's Area Agencies on Aging are launching an effort to make it easier for older adults and people with disabilities to get immunizations.

School administrators in Lewiston are still trying to get proof of state-mandated vaccinations from hundreds of families, as the school year gets underway.

In the coming days, the U.S. CDC is expected to grant final authorization of new COVID booster shots that target the omicron variant. The Maine CDC expects more than 20,000 doses will be available next week.

The vaccine opt-out rate among Maine kindergarteners fell to 1.8 percent last year after Maine eliminated philosophical and religious exemptions.

Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew says that the number of unvaccinated health care workers declined by 92% between May and October.

More than 3,000 Maine children between the ages of 5 and 11 have received first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine since federal regulators expanded eligibility last week.

As of Monday morning, Dr. Nirav Shah says 215 people across the state are in the hospital with COVID-19, 76 are in intensive care, and 33 are on a ventilator.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from health care workers in Maine to block a vaccine mandate that went into effect on Friday, Oct. 29. The mandate requires all health care workers in the state to be vaccinated against COVID-19, or risk losing their jobs.

The growth is happening in people in all age groups in rural counties, with the largest increase among adults 50 and above. 65% of vaccinations in the state are for first and second doses. The demand for booster shots has slowed from half of shots administered to a third.

Rates vary county by county and not all departments reported data. Piscataquis and Franklin Counties have the highest rate of unvaccinated workers, at 18% and 10% respectively.