LincolnHealth is now offering COVID-19 booster shots in its primary care offices to anyone over the age of 5, following last week’s approval and recommendation by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
An appointment is preferred and can be made by calling a Lincoln Medical Partners office or by visiting vaccine.mainehealth.org, John Martins, spokesperson for LincolnHealth, said by email.
The vaccine is being provided through all of LincolnHealth’s primary care practices, as well as booster shots. Call the MaineHealth Vaccine Assistant at 1-877-780-7545 or email vaccine@mainehealth.org for an appointment.
The hospital performed 65 fewer COVID-19 tests during the week of May 16-22 than it did last week and saw 44 positives, compared with 56 last week.
The positivity rate for the past week is 10.23%, compared to 11.31% the week prior.
MaineHealth, the health system LincolnHealth belongs to, is maintaining a database of COVID-19 information that can be accessed online here: mainehealth.org/coronavirus-COVID-19/what-to-do.
The health system also recommends staying home when sick, testing for COVID-19 in the event of symptoms or contact with a COVID-19-positive person, and seeking care when necessary.
According to Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention data through Tuesday, May 24, since COVID-19 arrived in Lincoln County in March 2020, 5,713 residents have had the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus – 4,819 confirmed cases and 894 probable.
Deaths in county residents held steady at 35.
Lincoln County has a “high” rate of vaccine doses administered per 100,000 residents relative to other counties in the state at 223,110.24. The number does not represent fully vaccinated individuals and, since the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines both require two doses, the number can be higher than 100,000.
The census data for Lincoln County provided by the Maine CDC lists a population of 34,634. Of those residents, 26,660, or 76.98%, have received their first dose of the vaccine and 27,324, or 78.89%, have received the second and final dose, according to the agency’s data.
A total of 77,272 doses of vaccine have been administered, up 507 doses from last week. Those counted in the final dose category have either received the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
There have been 23,288 additional or booster shots given to Lincoln County residents.
According to a database maintained by the Maine CDC, vaccine appointments can be requested at Hannaford in Damariscotta, Walgreens in Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor, and Wiscasset Family Medicine.
Patients of Sheepscot Valley Health Center in Coopers Mills can call 549-7581 to make an appointment for a vaccine.
To schedule an appointment at Hannaford, go to hannaford.com/pharmacy/covid-19-vaccine.
To schedule an appointment at Walgreens, go to walgreens.com/schedulevaccine or call 1-800-WALGREENS.
To schedule an appointment at Wiscasset Family Medicine, call 882-6008.
According to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, the seven-day average positivity rate for Maine is 10.3%, up from 9.96% last week.
State COVID-19 numbers
According to data current as of May 24, the Maine CDC has reported 261,031 COVID-19 cases in Maine, an increase of 4,073 from the week before. Of those cases, 72,801 are probable.
There have been 4,939 hospitalizations in the state. There have been 2,345 deaths so far from COVID-19 in Maine, including eight reported in the last week. The statewide case rate is 1,950.3 per 10,000 people, up from 1,919.9 last week.
