LEWISTON — With the state opening eligibility for COVID-19 vaccine to those in their 50s Tuesday, it could get tougher for those who are older to nab an appointment at the Auburn Mall, at least until supply increases.

“All our appointments this week are filled,” Amy Lee, vice president and chief operating officer of Central Maine Medical Group, said Monday before the eligibility was lowered from 60 to 50.

Health officials expected the clinic to be running Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday once vaccine supply was adequate.

“But we didn’t get enough (vaccine) to fill all four days,” Lee said. “Supply allocation is so up and down.”

For now, clinics will be held Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. The site does not take walk-ins. To check appointment availability, visit cmch.org or call 207-520-2917.

Northern Light Health, which is running clinics in various parts of the state, twice reported last week having unfilled appointments in Portland, Bangor, Fairfield and Dover-Foxcroft.

Northern Light Health posted on its Facebook page anyone who was, or knew of, someone 60 and older, a school worker or child care worker, to make an appointment with them.

Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque on Monday praised Central Maine Medical Center for its clinic operation.

But he said the state expanding eligibility doesn’t make sense locally, considering Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties have vaccine rates lower — 21% to 22.8% — than the state average of 27.18%.

“What I’d like to see happen is for the state to take a more granular look at the vaccine rate by county before dropping the age requirement statewide,” Levesque said. “They need to get more local on this. If that means dropping the age requirement in Cumberland County (where a higher percentage have been vaccinated), that could make sense. But what they’re doing is compounding the problem by dropping the age requirement.”

Those who are older who haven’t gotten appointments will get “bumped in line,” Levesque said.

It’s important, he said, for the state to consult with local leaders on regional needs and plans about vaccine rollouts. “The lack of communication to the local level has been very telling.”

The Maine Center for Disease Control said Monday that it is expanding eligibility to “maintain momentum.”

Statewide, nearly 60% of Mainers ages 60-69 have had at least one shot, “and more than 75% of people 70 and older have had at least one shot,” Maine CDC spokesman Robert Long said in an email.

“Maine is opening vaccination to people age 50 and older to maintain our momentum in ensuring that we can vaccinate residents as quickly and fairly as possible,” he said.

For this week, the Auburn Mall clinic is receiving 2,340 doses, and those are first doses, Long said.

Most clinics throughout the state receive fewer doses than they request because the federal government allocates supply based on population, and Maine’s population is only 0.4% of the nation, Long said.

Referring to the Northern Light Health open appointments, there is a misconception “that lots of slots are going unfilled,” Long said. “That is not the case.”

Bangor’s clinic can vaccinate 4,000 people a day, and that high capacity requires Northern Light to have proactive communication about appointments,” he said.

Some people sign up at Northern Light and other clinics, so if they get a shot other than at Northern Light, that opens appointments, which then Northern Light makes last-minute openings available to others.

“We have urged people not to register at multiple sites,” Long said, “but the demand to be vaccinated remains very high, and human nature is what it is.”

Large-scale clinics have been able to add capacity the longer they operate. The Auburn clinic opened March 17.

“So it’s possible that the Auburn Mall could later be able to vaccinate more people per week when the federal supply of vaccine increases,” Long said.

Lee said the plan was for the clinic to be open four days a week, providing up to 1,000 a shots a day, a goal reached Sunday, she said. On Saturday nearly 800 shots were given.

If someone who is eligible is having trouble getting an appointment online, “keep trying,” she said. Often appointments are opened up Wednesday mornings.

People can make appointments online at cmhc.org or by calling Central Maine Healthcare’s COVID vaccine call center at 207-520-2917.
The Maine COVID-19 Community Vaccination Line (1-888-445-4111) can help people who do not have internet access or need assistance with interpretation, transportation or other resources. It cannot provide faster access to vaccination appointments.

On Saturday, Lee said a good mix of ages were getting vaccinated, including those in their 60s but also people in their 70s and 80s. “People are making it in.”

With the clinic only running a few days, “we’ve had amazing volunteers.” On Saturday as people got their shots, “there were people cheering. It was such a positive thing.”