Shah: Maine leads the nation in COVID-19 2nd boosters

May 29—Maine is the first state to see 30 percent of its eligible population receive a second COVID-19 booster according to Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention,

"Maine once again lives up to our "Dirigo" motto," Shah tweeted Friday, adding Maine leads the nation in second booster rates of 30.5 percent of the eligible population getting a second booster.

The eligible population for a second booster, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, is adults 50 years and older, and people who are immunocompromised.

Of Maine's 1.34 million population, 74.23 percent have been fully vaccinated, and 756,933 doses of booster shots have been administered as of Saturday, according to the Maine CDC. The tally of booster doses does not break down how many people received boosters, or whether they were first or second boosters.

The Maine CDC reported 162 people hospitalized with the virus on Sunday. Of those, 20 were in critical care units and three on ventilators. That's some improvement from Saturday, when 166 people were in the hospitals statewide with the virus.

The state reported 475 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday, compared to 510 new cases on Friday. The true number of infections is underreported since many people who take at-home tests do not report results.

Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine in Baylor College, said if people are in indoor settings with large numbers of people without masks, "there is a good likelihood you will suffer a breakthrough infection," Hotez said, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.

Now in Maine with most counties categorized as medium or high risk of infection by the U.S. CDC, "if you're in a group of 25 people, it is likely that one of them is positive for COVID," said Dr. Dora Mills, the chief health improvement officer for MaineHealth and former head of the Maine CDC.

"If you're fully boosted, relatively healthy and not elderly, even if you contract COVID, the chances are it will be mild, though it's hard to know what your chances are of contracting long haul COVID," Mills said Sunday in an email.

If someone wants to go to a movie or an indoor concert, Mills recommends being fully boosted, wearing a high-quality mask and sitting where the ventilation is better. She also recommends having a plan for how to access treatment if infected. The risk for severe COVID-19 illness goes up steadily from age 40 and up, and much more precipitously from age 65 and up, she said.

Personally, Mills said she would go to the movies with conditions.

"I feel fine to go to the movies, but while the COVID incidence is still high, I'm choosing show times that are less crowded, and I'm wearing a high-quality mask, sitting away from others, and of course making sure I'm up to my vaccinations," Mills said.

Since the pandemic began, Maine has recorded 262,572 cases of the virus and 2,346 deaths. The state typically does not report additional deaths and cases on Sundays and Mondays.

The death toll reported on Friday was one higher than Saturday. The reason is the state lowered the death toll by one after the Maine CDC reviewed and validated information submitted to the agency, Robert Long of the Maine CDC said Sunday in an email. One death previously reported as a COVID-19 related death did not meet the criteria to be classified as such, Long said.