SKOWHEGAN, Maine — Public health leaders in Somerset County report COVID-19 vaccination rates at a "steady trickle" since May and are begging people to get the shot.
Redington-Fairview General Hospital's director of Pharmacy, Lisa Caswell, said at the beginning of May, demand for the shot "fell off a cliff."
"People were so happy to get vaccinated in January, and come May, we were begging," said Caswell.
Caswell said they shut down the mass vaccination clinic at RFGH, which used to run 2-4 times a week, putting hundreds of shots in arms. Now, it has been converted to a drive-thru clinic in the hospital parking lot, open for vaccinations from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays.
Now, when people come to RFGH, either the ER or to see their doctor, staff offer a dose of the vaccine, even if it means wasting doses left in a vial: a message they got straight from the Maine CDC.
"That's exactly the message we got from the Maine Immunization Program. Don't waste the arm. Better to waste the dose than waste the arm," said Caswell.
She said they have sent EMTs from RFGH out to vaccinate homebound Mainers. If you need a shot, you can contact eflannery@rfgh.net or call 207-858-2364.
The median percentage of people 12 and older vaccinated is 56%. The low is 48% in Canaan. The high is 89% in Caratunk.
Public health leaders, including Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah, hope that doctors can be a trusted voice for those who have been hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
"If you trust your doctor to help guide you in other area of your healthcare life, then why not do the same when it comes to COVID?" said Dr. Shah during Wednesday's media briefing.
Shah said they have seen a drop in demand across the state. The decline raises new concerns about vaccine hesitancy. In some Somerset County towns, more than half of residents are not vaccinated.
FEMA's mobile vaccine unit did not make a stop in Somerset County. Caswell hopes that more people will get the vaccine in the fall when school is back in session.
She said the biggest rumor she hears from patients is that if they contracted COVID-19 that they need to wait 3 to 9 months to get the shot.
She said that is simply not true.
Right now, more than 64 percent of those eligible in Maine have gotten a final dose.
"It provides an opening for the virus to keep running," said Dr. Shah. "That is a concern as we think about vulnerable populations in particular."
Caswell said Somerset County recently has been accounting for around 30 percent of the state's daily new cases of COVID-19, despite the statewide decline.
"On average we are disproportionately represented in the infection numbers," said Caswell.
Asked if she was worried about people in her county, she said: "Absolutely."
Despite some counties in Maine lagging behind others, Maine is doing better than most states overall. According to the U.S. CDC, Maine ranks fourth in the country for those with at least one dose (including the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine) at 74 percent, behind Vermont (82.2 percent), Massachusetts (78.5 percent), and Connecticut (75.1 percent).
Of those fully vaccinated, Maine is tied for second with Massachusetts at 66.7 percent, behind Vermont at 71.3 percent.