AUGUSTA, Maine — In his first prime-time address to the nation, President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a plan to make all adults eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination by May 1 and “begin to mark our independence from this virus” by the Fourth of July.
Following Biden’s call to action, Gov. Janet Mills announced Friday that she is speeding up the state’s vaccination timeline to meet the May 1 target.
“From the day we received our first shipment of vaccines, we have been determined to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, focusing our limited supply first on those who are most at risk of dying from COVID-19," Mills said in a release. "With the Biden Administration promising to increase the supply of vaccine in the next few months, we will do what we had always hoped we could: accelerate our vaccine timeline. As the Biden Administration works to get us shots, we will continue our work to get them into arms. The future is getting brighter, but there is more to do – and my administration will continue to work with the President and with health care providers across the state to get people vaccinated and move us closer to getting back to normal.”
The age-based plan announced by Mills two weeks ago, which laid out a timeline for age groups through the summer months, will now be accelerated:
- March 3: Age 60 and older
- April 1: Age 50 and older
- May 1: All adults
Currently, Maine teachers, school staff, and child care workers are also eligible.
“From the outset, our vaccination plan focused on creating an infrastructure to get shots into the arms of as many Maine people as possible as quickly and equitably as possible,” Maine Center for Disease Control Director Dr. Nirav Shah said. “Our large-scale community vaccination clinics can vaccinate more people as soon as our federal partners can increase weekly allocations to Maine, and we continue to add vaccination options in every part of the state. Through collaboration with Maine’s health systems, pharmacies, clinicians, and others, we will be ready when larger allocations arrive in the state.”
Since the vaccination effort began in Maine in December, 480,638 total doses have been administered, with 178,337 people receiving their second/final dose.
