AUGUSTA – It’s possible the first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine could hit Maine as early as the middle of December.
But it’s going to be months before any vaccine makes its way to the biggest chunk of the state’s population.
According to Maine CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah, front-line health care workers will be among the first to receive it.
As far as what Maine’s initial allotment might be, Shah stressed any numbers are extremely preliminary.
“What we’ve been told is that Maine will receive approximately 12,000 doses. That’s not patients, but 12,000 doses sufficient for roughly 6,000 people of the Pfizer vaccine,” Shah said Monday during a CDC briefing.
Shah was unable to provide a preliminary number of what the state might receive from the vaccine being created by the Moderna biotechnology company.
The CDC director also wouldn’t speculate as to how long it would take for the vaccine to become available for the non-healthcare workers, as well as people working in so-called non-essential jobs.
