A small grassroots army of truth-tellers and trendsetters is working to make sure new Mainers have factual information about the COVID-19 vaccine and ready access to area clinics.
Kelley Bouchard
Staff Writer
Kelley writes about Maine businesses large and small, focusing on economic development, workforce initiatives and the stateโs leading business organizations. Her wider experience includes municipal and state government, immigration, education, transportation, history, human rights, health and elder care, the environment and the housing crisis. A Maine native and University of Maine graduate, she was a college intern for two summers at the former Lewiston Evening Journal. She previously worked at the Ipswich Chronicle, Beverly Times and Salem Evening News in Massachusetts. Favorite pastimes include gardening, cooking, streaming foreign TV series and kayaking at camp.
Maine speeds vaccinations: Residents 50 and older eligible starting Tuesday, all adults April 19
The accelerated timeline comes as some providers are reporting available appointments and as the state is expecting to see an increase in supply from the federal government.
Nursing homes still wait for more vaccine, which could be coming
Maine public health officials move to provide vaccine to long-term care facilities left without allocations while having new residents who are unvaccinated.
More women than men are getting vaccinated, and the gender gap could persist
The divide reflects priority groups targeted by the vaccine rollout in Maine and across the nation, and it could remain if men don’t change their health care habits.
Nursing home gains threatened by lack of vaccine, unvaccinated workers
As COVID-19 cases ebb and long-term care facilities resume in-person visits, concern is growing that these are precarious gains without continued vaccine allocations and fully inoculated staffs.
Abyssinian restoration group raised $375,000 after Black Lives Matter marches
The money will help restore the historic Black meetinghouse in Portland before its 200th anniversary, but more work must be done to make that happen.
Maine eligibility guidelines for COVID-19 vaccine confuse, frustrate
Contradictions and exceptions within an evolving set of rollout rules trouble vaccine providers and those still waiting for their shots, but some in the field say they appreciate a degree of flexibility.
Vaccine clinic brings hope, relief to elders on Peaks Island
Front-line immunization teams from Northern Light Health and MaineHealth administer shots to 130 senior residents of the community to fend off COVID-19.
Maine bought over 2 million potentially counterfeit masks now subject to recall
About 161,000 of the possibly fake N95 respirators have been distributed to school nurses, health care facilities and state workers in Maine since November and are now part of a nationwide recall and replacement effort.
Maine officials say they will take vaccine away from hospitals that violate guidelines
Gov. Janet Mills criticized MaineHealth on Tuesday for not following guidelines, calling it an ‘insult’ that the state’s largest health care organization gave doses to out-of-state contractors who came here to disrupt a union-organizing effort by nurses.