PORTLAND, Maine — Disabled or homebound Mainers who cannot physically get to a vaccination clinic may soon get a COVID-19 vaccine delivered to them at their homes, according to Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah.
During Tuesday's briefing, Dr. Shah said the CDC is working on plans using different parts of the state's vaccination force, including public health nurses, EMS clinicians, and independent pharmacists to deploy vaccines to Mainers who struggle to, or simply cannot, leave their homes.
Receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine makes these vaccine "house calls" a possibility, Shah said. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not require ultra-cold storage and is a single dose.
"Those two factors alone make it something that opens many new possibilities for us," said Dr. Shah. "For many homebound Mainers, even making a drive to a pop-up or drive-thru [vaccination site] may itself be a challenge, so those plans are underway, and that is one of the undeniable strengths of the J & J vaccine."
The announcement comes days after Maine Governor Janet Mills detailed a shift in the state's vaccine rollout to focus solely on age, and no longer prioritizing people by their occupations or underlying health conditions.
Maine is getting 11,500 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in addition to its supply of Pfizer and Moderna doses, giving the Maine CDC alone a total of 55,060 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Separately, Hannaford is receiving 3,500 doses of J&J vaccine, and Penobscot Community Health Care, a Federally qualified health center (FQHC) that is vaccinating underserved populations, is receiving 1,000 Moderna doses this week.