COVID-19 Vaccination Jumps Among Maine Health Care Workers

October 13, 2021

AUGUSTA—The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) today published updated monthly data showing that COVID-19 vaccination rates rose rapidly in September among Maine health care workers, further protecting these front-line workers, the health and lives of people in their care, and safeguarding Maine’s health care capacity.

Over the most recent reporting period, between September 1 through September 30, rates climbed above 90 percent for hospitals (91.6%) and ambulatory surgery centers (92%). The September rates increased by more than 10 percentage points in assisted housing facilities (88.1%) and intermediate care facilities (83.2%). Rates also rose significantly in nursing homes (85.8%).

For comparison, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that full vaccination among Maine adults is 80 percent as of October 12, and 67.9 percent among all U.S. adults.

“Maine’s health care workers are increasingly receiving these safe and effective vaccines, which will protect their health, their patients’ lives, and our health care system as we continue to fight the dangerous and more transmissible Delta variant,” said DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew and Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Nirav D. Shah. “We continue to urge all Maine people to get vaccinated – it's the best and most effective tool we have to keep our health system strong and turn the tide on this pandemic.”

DHHS began posting health care worker vaccination rates monthly on June 22. On August 12, the Mills Administration announced that workers in licensed health care facilities would be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19, as they have long been required to get vaccinated against other infectious diseases. Less than a month later, on September 9, President Biden announced a nationwide heath care worker COVID-19 vaccine requirement that does not include a testing alternative. Enforcement of Maine’s vaccination requirement for health care workers, which is supported by the Maine Hospital Association, the majority of Maine’s health systems, and the Maine Health Care Association, begins as of October 29, 2021.

This monthly reporting will end with October 2021 vaccination rates, which DHHS will use in compliance activity. This survey will then transition from a monthly report to an annual compliance report in December 2021.

In addition to using the 2021 health care worker vaccination rate survey as a basis for ongoing reporting, Maine DHHS and CDC intend to deploy effective compliance tools such as random audits and complaint-driven investigations to protect health care workers as well as patients. In response to suggestions from stakeholders, and to help facilities during the transition to the new rule in November, Maine DHHS and CDC will use enforcement discretion during this time-limited period to allow health care facilities subject to the emergency rule to hire a new employee who has received at least a first dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine prior to the employee’s start date. This is conditional on the employer ensuring that the employee uses appropriate personal protective equipment and is tested at least weekly until the employee is fully vaccinated (including an employee who received a Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine prior to the start of employment). Any such employee who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine must receive the second dose on the FDA-authorized schedule.

Health care workers and their workplaces have been especially susceptible to COVID-19. As of October 12, 2021, at least 6,516 health care workers have tested positive for the disease. More than 350 health care setting outbreaks have been reported since the beginning of the pandemic. The majority (59%) of workers’ compensation claims in the last two years came from health care workers, with an even greater majority (61%) occurring in 2020 before the vaccine was widely available, showing the vulnerability of health care workers to infection from the disease.

To address both pandemic-related staffing challenges and the longstanding health care workforce issue in Maine, the Mills Administration has provided one-time payments of $146 million to hospitals and nursing facilities. Hospitals will receive these supplemental payments this month. Further, the Administration awarded $25 million to these same health care organizations in August to support recovery from the pandemic. The Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan includes another nearly $20 million to address short- and long-term workforce gaps. And, the Department has launched MaineCare reforms to improve its payment rates, especially for direct care workers.

The COVID-19 vaccine continues to be widely available in Maine, at no cost and often with no appointment necessary. For a list of vaccination sites, visit the State’s vaccine website or call the Community Vaccination Line at 1-888-445-4111.