Maine to Shut Down Mobile Vaccine Unit in 2 Weeks
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s mobile coronavirus vaccine unit is being redirected to southern parts of the state later this month, and will wrap up service in two weeks.
The state has used the mobile unit to provide the vaccine to rural and underserved communities. It’s scheduled to continue that effort in Madawaska in far northern Maine from June 5 to 7.
Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah said the mobile unit will then come to Portland and Old Orchard Beach. Its final day in service will be in Old Orchard Beach on June 18.
That represents a shift in strategy for the unit, Shah said. Moving it to high population centers in its final days will allow it to serve many people before it closes, he said. The unit will also be able to offer some of the numerous hospitality workers in southern Maine a shot, Shah said during a Maine Public appearance on Thursday.
“For much of the mobile vaccination unit’s drive through Maine, it has focused on rural Maine,” he said.
The unit can do about 500 shots per day, Shah said. It has provided more than 9,000 vaccinations, mostly to rural Maine residents, he said.
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