Augusta Armory clinic administers more than 3,500 vaccine shots last week, officials say

The COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Augusta Armory is in full swing Saturday morning. State health officials say the clinic administered 1,206 doses Saturday and 3,519 all of last week. Scott Monroe/Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA — The Augusta Armory administered more than 3,500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine last week, according to officials with the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention.

The vaccination clinic at the armory, 179 Western Ave., is scheduled to continue this week, with walk-in hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and noon to 7 p.m. Thursday, with no Saturday session planned.

Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC, wrote on Twitter the clinic was part of the “Boosterpalooza” and one of the few pop-up sites around the state where people could walk in and get vaccinated for free.

Shah applauded the many volunteers from the state CDC, Maine Emergency Management Agency and Maine National Guard.

Update from Boosterpalooza® at the Augusta Armory:
– 1206 #COVID19 #vaccine doses administered today
– 67 of those were pediatric doses

An amazing day made possible by volunteers, @MEPublicHealth, @MaineEMA, and @GuardMaine.

We'll be back Tues/Wed/Thurs.

— Nirav D. Shah (@nirav_uscdc) December 11, 2021

The clinic offered first, second and booster shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, including doses for children.

Jackie Farwell, a spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, said Monday morning the clinic administered 3,519 doses of the vaccines last week, with each day drawing more people than the day before.

It was unclear from the statistics how many of the doses were first or second doses or booster shots.

Last Tuesday, the first day of the clinic, 475 vaccine shots were administered, followed by 723 on Wednesday, 1,115 on Thursday and 1,206 on Saturday, which saw daylong freezing rain that began about when the clinic was opening at 9 a.m.

Shah tweeted Saturday that 67 children had received a vaccine that day.

Maine has the third-highest vaccination rate in the country, with 69% of residents being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the state CDC, which recommends those older than 16 get a booster shot if their last dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine was at least six months ago, or two months ago for Johnson & Johnson. Thus far, only Pfizer has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for children younger than 18.

As of last weekend, the number of people who had received booster shots had jumped to 370,684, the Maine CDC reported. That number is up from 280,626 on Nov. 28.