The state is inching closer to having half its population fully vaccinated against the virus.
Maine reported 199 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and two additional deaths. It was the fourth consecutive day of fewer than 200 cases. The seven-day daily case average now stands at 240, which is down from 297 two weeks ago and from a spring high of 475 cases on average this time last month. There have now been 66,113 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 and 805 deaths since the pandemic reached Maine 14 months ago, according to data tracked by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospitalizations had not been updated Tuesday morning, but as of Monday there were 110 individuals in the hospital with COVID-19, the lowest since April 21. Of those,42 were in critical care and 19 were on ventilators. As for vaccinations, Maine has administered 675,792 first doses, accounting for 50.3 percent of all residents, and 640,361 final doses, covering 47.6 percent of the population. Maine still ranks tops among all states in percentage of population that is fully vaccinated, according to a Bloomberg tracker, even though weekly vaccinations have decreased for five consecutive weeks.
