Yes. Non-Maine residents are now eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Maine.
General information about vaccination eligibility is posted on the Maine COVID-19 vaccination website. People in eligible age groups can contact vaccination clinics to schedule appointments. Clinics have different notification systems, so eligible Maine residents can ask at the time of registration how they will be notified about a vaccination appointment.
Individuals should first check with their employer or medical provider to ensure that a plan hasn’t already been made for them to receive the vaccine.
Updates to Maine’s vaccination process can also be found here.
There is a Pharmacy Partnership Program available. If you would like to learn more, please reach out to Madeleine Squibb at madeleine.squibb@maine.gov
Details about Maine’s COVID-19 vaccine orders are available here.
If a 1st dose was administered at a pharmacy; the pharmacy must honor the 2nd dose as well. Please contact the pharmacy where you had your 1st dose administered to have your appointment rescheduled. We are also working with the public clinics to make sure eligible people can get their second doses there.
Please contact the Maine COVID-19 Community Vaccination Line at 1-888-445-4111 for assistance. This line is available for Mainers who:
Do not have internet access
Need assistance connecting to or navigating online resources
Require interpretation assistance
Are home bound and need transportation
Have other questions around resources in their area
The line is available for calls Monday-Friday: 7am-7pm or Saturday-Sunday: 8am-2pm.
The Maine COVID-19 Community Vaccination Line will not provide faster access to clinic appointments.
Ideally if you have received your first dose at a facility in Maine, you should be getting your second dose at the same facility, since the second dose will have already been allocated there. However, if you’re unable to, (i.e. received first dose out of state and then moved to Maine), then you would need to reach out to the closest health care system.
Maine DHHS is partnering with ModivCare, one of the organizations that coordinates rides for MaineCare members, to provide rides for any Maine resident who may be unable to drive, lacks reliable transportation or is otherwise unable to travel to their appointment. ModivCare will in turn partner with Community Action Programs and transportation companies to provide rides. This new free option is in addition to the transportation support that DHHS already offers for eligible MaineCare members who face challenges getting to their vaccine appointments.
People can call 1-800-608-5172 to schedule a ride. People must have a vaccination appointment before requesting a ride and must request a ride at least 48 hours in advance of their appointment.
Individuals who have completed a COVID-19 vaccination series and are 14 days beyond the completion of the series are exempt from the testing and 10-day quarantine requirement.
Scientific evidence indicates that people who have recently had COVID-19, within the last 90 days, are effectively immune from the disease and very unlikely to transmit the virus. Individuals who have been fully vaccinated are also unlikely to transmit COVID-19. However, all visitors should continue to wear face coverings and practice physical distancing and hand hygiene to reduce the risk even further.
If you get a COVID-19 vaccine and you think you might be having a severe allergic reaction after leaving the vaccination site, seek immediate medical care by calling 911.
You can report side effects and reactions using either V-safe or the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
V- safe is a smartphone-based tool that uses text messaging and web surveys to provide personalized health check-ins after you receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Through v-safe, you can quickly tell CDC if you have any side effects after getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Depending on your answers, someone from CDC may call to check on you and get more information. And V-safe will remind you to get your second COVID-19 vaccine dose if you need one.
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is the national system that collects reports from healthcare professionals, vaccine manufacturers, and the public of adverse events that happen after vaccination; reports of adverse events that are unexpected, appear to happen more often than expected, or have unusual patterns are followed up with specific studies. Reports to VAERS help CDC monitor the safety of vaccines. If experts detect an unexpected adverse event, they quickly study it further to assess whether it is a true safety concern. Experts then decide whether changes are needed in U.S. vaccine recommendations. This monitoring is critical to help ensure that the benefits continue to outweigh the risks for people who receive vaccines.
Healthcare providers will be required to report certain adverse events following vaccination to VAERS. Healthcare providers also have to adhere to any revised safety reporting requirements according to FDA’s conditions of authorized use throughout the duration of any Emergency Use Authorization; these requirements would be posted on FDA’s website.
You can expect normal side effects after you are vaccinated. Refer to What to Expect at Your Appointment to Get Vaccinated for COVID-19 for additional information.
They should contact the facility where they received their vaccination to report the reaction.
The COVID-19 vaccine distribution process leverages existing networks, processes and partnerships to make vaccines available across America as quickly and safely as possible. Each week, as doses are released by companies for distribution, planes and trucks transport the vaccine to states and jurisdictions across the country.
The federal government, through Operation Warp Speed, has been working since the pandemic started to develop, manufacture, and distribute COVID-19 vaccines.
In general, groups most likely to experience extreme adverse symptoms or death if exposed to COVID-19 are recommended to receive the vaccine first.
The State of Maine has updated previously released guidance on vaccination distribution to ensure efficiency, equity, and prevent severe illness and death.
The details of the State’s updated COVID-19 vaccination distribution are posted here.
The policy is binding for sites receiving COVID-19 vaccine from the Maine Immunization Program (MIP).
At the same time, the State is committed to putting every dose of the COVID-19 vaccine into the arms of residents, even if that means occasional deviations from the State’s phases
This guidance specifies how vaccine sites with approved Maine Immunization Provider Agreements may administer extra doses to individuals at the end of a clinic day or in extraordinary circumstances.
Maine’s goal is that no dose goes to waste. As such, approved sites may, without additional approval, use the small fraction of doses available at the end of a clinic to vaccinate, in this order:
Eligible individuals who may be on a waiting list or scheduled at a future date, including “same day” waiting lists, if sites decide to create such;
Vaccine clinic staff and volunteers, in oldest age order, who have not otherwise been vaccinated; and
Other individuals as a last resort. Extra doses should be prioritized when possible toward individuals who have elevated risks, such as individuals with medical conditions or those living with a disability that increase the risk for severe COVID-19 such as high-risk conditions identified by US CDC; those who live in marginalized, medically-underserved, and/or remote communities, including MaineCare members and those from racial and ethnic minority groups, sexual and gender minority groups, or tribal communities.
The federal government ultimately makes the decision as to how many doses are allocated to each state as they work closely with each jurisdiction.
The Maine COVID webpage will be updated as new public information becomes available.
Maine CDC has launched a vaccine dashboard that updates at 10 a.m. daily to include data from the previous day.
All providers are encouraged to join the MeCDC Vaccination Working Group call
This call occurs every Thursday from 1-2 pm and discusses strategies and operations in preparing Maine for COVID-19 vaccination.
PowerPoint slides to past meetings are located here.
COVID-19 Vaccine Info for Clinicians Webinars
Tuesdays at 7:30 –8:00 AM & Fridays at 12:00 –12:30PM
Dr. Stephen Sears, Dr. Amy Belisle and Dr. Lisa Letourneau host these meetings.
The sessions offer information on the vaccine development and approval process, followed by time for questions and discussion.
Meeting ID: 621 843 4986
Slides and recordings to these webinars are located here.
Our COVID-10 webpage is located here.
This webpage includes information on how to enroll in the program, storage and handling resources, EUA Fact Sheets/Standing Orders, Vaccine Safety, Communications (anything sent out from the Maine Immunization Program regarding COVID-19 and the slides from each weekly Vaccine Planning Work Group Meeting), link to the U.S. CDC’s COVID page, COVID-19 Vaccine Info for Clinicians (including slides and information from ME DHHS Clinician Information Sessions with Dr. Stephen Sears, Dr. Amy Belisle, and Dr. Lisa Letournea)
Any facility, organization, or healthcare provider licensed to possess vaccine, administer vaccine, or provide vaccination services in the State of Maine is eligible to enroll.
Only providers enrolled through this online enrollment and approved by the Maine Immunization Program can receive and administer COVID-19 vaccine in Maine. To enroll, organizations must complete:
Additional information on the process and what is required can be found here.
The CDC website can provide more information on COVID-19 Vaccines and Allergic Reactions.
Providers may also join the “COVID-19 Vaccine Info for Clinicians Webinars”
Please contact the Maine Immunization Program – ImmunizeME.DHHS@maine.gov or 207-287-3746, so we can be put you in a partnership.
It’s not clear how long protection lasts from being infected with the virus, so vaccination is still recommended.
People who had COVID-19 can get the vaccine at any time after they’ve recovered from being ill with COVID- 19.
This is hard to determine and could be a result of increased mask wearing, less congregating after the holidays, however, we do not have a definitive reason why at this time.
Pfizer –94.1% Moderna–95% Johnson & Johnson- 85% effective in preventing severe/critical illness and 66% effective in preventing symptomatic illness 28 days after vaccination.
As of December 28, 2020, large-scale (Phase 3) clinical trials are in progress or being planned for two COVID- 19 vaccines in the United States:
AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine
Novavax COVID-19 vaccine
For more information on the different vaccines, please visit the CDC website.
Who should get vaccinated?
The Moderna vaccine is recommended for people aged 18 years and older.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is recommended for people aged 16 years and older.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is recommended for people aged 18 years and older.
Who should NOT get vaccinated?
If you have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction—even if it was not severe—to any ingredient in an mRNA COVID-19vaccine
If you have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction—even if it was not severe—after getting the first dose of the vaccine, you should not get another dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
An immediate allergic reaction means a reaction within 4 hours of getting vaccinated, including symptoms such as hives, swelling, or wheezing (respiratory distress).
This includes allergic reactions to polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polysorbate. Polysorbate is not an ingredient in either mRNA COVID-19 vaccine but is closely related to PEG, which is in the vaccines. People who are allergic to PEG or polysorbate should not get an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
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