Maine CDC reports low caseload as J&J vaccine resumes - Press Herald

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The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday reported 174 cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths, a small caseload compared to recent days, as the state resumes distribution of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

A federal clinic at Biddeford High School is delivering shots of J&J with no appointment needed, and will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through Wednesday. Officials in Maine and around the country had previously ordered a pause in distribution of the Johnson & Johnson variety because of a handful of reports, among millions of shots given, that recipients developed blood clots.

Maine’s cumulative COVID-19 cases rose to 59,776 on Sunday. Of those, 44,657 have been confirmed by testing and 15,119 are considered probable cases of COVID-19. The seven-day average of new daily cases was 355.9 on Sunday, a decrease of nearly a hundred compared to last Sunday’s 456.4.

Seven hundred seventy-two people have died with COVID-19 since the pandemic began in Maine.

Federal agencies last week recommended the resumption of J&J shots after determining that the risk to recipients was low and the vaccine was otherwise effective. Officials in Maine have been planning to rely on the one-dose vaccine to immunize Mainers who are unhoused, live in remote areas or are otherwise hard to reach for a second dose.

Out of 8 million J&J doses given as of Friday, 15 women had developed blood clots. Three have died, and another seven have been hospitalized. All but two of the women were under 50.

Newly released year-end statistics from 2020 reveal that COVID-19 was Maine’s eighth most common cause of death, and the state’s overall death rate rose by 4.5 percent, in great part because of coronavirus. But nationwide, COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death, behind only heart disease and cancer.

Nationally, the death rate in 2020 rose by 15.9 percent over the previous year, according to CDC analysis released this month.

Only Alaska, Hawaii and Vermont have had fewer deaths per capita than Maine. Public health officials here credited the state’s quick and aggressive response at the beginning of the pandemic, as well as its remoteness from the rest of the U.S. — only New Hampshire borders Maine, which otherwise is surrounded by Canada and the ocean.

Meanwhile, Maine officials last week heightened the COVID-19 risk designation for four counties — Androscoggin, Kennebec, Oxford and Somerset – from green to yellow. The change comes with a recommendation that schools there move to hybrid instruction for at least two weeks.

By Sunday morning, Maine had given 606,302 people the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 477,030 had received a final dose. Out of the state’s population of 1.3 million, 45.1 percent had received their first dose.

County by county as of Sunday, there had been 6,891 coronavirus cases in Androscoggin, 1,619 in Aroostook, 15,837 in Cumberland, 1,195 in Franklin, 1,221 in Hancock, 5,467 in Kennebec, 948 in Knox, 808 in Lincoln, 3,128 in Oxford, 5,267 in Penobscot, 434 in Piscataquis, 1,224 in Sagadahoc, 1,812 in Somerset, 815 in Waldo, 824 in Washington and 12,283 in York.

By age, 17.6 percent of patients were under 20, while 18.6 percent were in their 20s, 14.7 percent were in their 30s, 13.3 percent were in their 40s, 14.9 percent were in their 50s, 10.7 percent were in their 60s, 5.6 percent were in their 70s, and 4.5 percent were 80 or older.

Updated hospital capacity numbers weren’t yet available early Sunday morning.

Around the world on Sunday, there were over 146.5 million known cases of COVID-19 and 3.1 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States had 32 million cases and nearly 572,000 deaths.

This story will be updated

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