SANFORD, Maine — As her 19-month-old son Wilder Lynch squirmed in her arms, Jesse Cinquegrano tapped her cellphone and tried to determine which COVID-19 vaccine would serve her household finest.
The Sanford vaccine clinic seemed the identical as many others, besides that the employee in entrance of the Biddeford mom was utilizing Gary, a stuffed gorilla, to entertain Wilder whereas explaining the variations between Pfizer and Moderna regimens for youngsters youthful than 5.
Pfizer is a three-shot regime with the third dose coming at the very least two months after the final. Moderna’s two-dose program is completed after a month. Cinquegrano and her accomplice had gotten the Pfizer shot and initially thought their youngsters would too.
However the timing proved necessary. They selected Moderna for Wilder and his 3-year-old brother, Bastian, trying ahead to extra regular lives over two years into the pandemic.
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“It’s been actually powerful as a result of I keep at residence with them, which is far simpler than going to highschool, however we misplaced numerous socialization due to that,” Cinquegrano stated.
A person and little one sit underneath a banner at a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Sanford on Thursday, June 23, 2022. The free clinic started vaccinating kids underneath 5 on Tuesday. Credit score: Troy R. Bennett / BDN
It’s the type of calculus Maine dad and mom are making through the first week of vaccine availability for teenagers underneath 5. Dad and mom who rushed to get kids vaccinated this week stated the milestone was a aid after an extended wait. But this rollout will in all probability be the slowest, with a lot of dad and mom not dashing to get youthful kids vaccinated.
The Sanford clinic, run by the York County Emergency Administration Company, is a novel scene at this stage of the pandemic. It’s the final mass vaccination clinic open in Maine, occupying a former Marshalls retailer in a purchasing plaza.
Most youthful kids are anticipated to get vaccinated at pediatricians’ workplaces, however that requires appointments. Maine’s second-largest well being supplier, Brewer-based Northern Gentle Well being, is just not providing vaccines to the youngest inhabitants till subsequent week. A mixture of state legal guidelines and firm insurance policies additionally retains many pharmacies from vaccinating youngsters underneath 3.
So curiosity within the clinic has been excessive within the first few days, stated Megan Arsenault, the deputy director of York County EMA. It primarily has served York County residents, however she stated folks from New Hampshire and even north of Bangor have made the journey.
The company staffs the clinic with pediatricians capable of reply dad and mom’ questions. One nook is devoted to coloring books. Chairs are arrange in entrance of a TV, from which the sounds of Disney’s “Encanto” may be heard from the cubicles the place pictures have been administered. A desk piled with stuffed animals awaits youngsters after getting pictures, and house was put aside for nursing dad and mom. Many of the crowd was accompanied by younger kids, however a number of adults obtained boosters.
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“We’ve got seen tears on Tuesday and once more right now, and never tears from little ones, however tears from dad and mom,” Arsenault stated. “Tears of pleasure and gratitude.”
Regardless of that curiosity, state figures confirmed the trouble was off to a gradual begin. Solely 178 first doses had been administered by Wednesday. The state has sufficient doses to vaccinate 40 % of the under-5 inhabitants, stated Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Heart for Illness Management and Prevention, on a Thursday go to to the clinic.
Vaccine uptake has been slower in Maine and throughout the nation amongst youthful populations up to now. Nationwide polling from the Kaiser Household Basis present in early Might that 1 in 5 dad and mom need to get their little one underneath 5 vaccinated as quickly as doable, whereas practically 2 in 5 % stated they’ll wait. One other quarter stated they undoubtedly wouldn’t.
Nirav Shah, director of the Maine CDC, speaks with reporters at a free COVID-19 vaccination clinic in a Sanford purchasing plaza on Thursday afternoon, June 23, 2022. The walk-in clinic, run by the York County Emergency Administration Company, is the final of its form in Maine. Credit score: Troy R. Bennett / BDN
Shah harassed that it’s OK if dad and mom take time in getting kids vaccinated. He stated numbers are more likely to tick up as extra pediatricians — a few of whom could haven’t needed to order COVID-19 vaccines but — see curiosity from dad and mom because the yr goes on.
“The youthful you get down the chain, the much less of an emergency [getting vaccinated] turns into,” Shah stated. “It’s an necessary factor, it’s pressing, but it surely’s not an emergency.”
For most of the state’s youngest kids, life through the pandemic has been the identical since March 2020, stated Dr. Laura Blaisdell, the incoming president of the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Whereas younger kids could not get very sick generally from the virus, dad and mom have needed to take into account dangers related to occasions or daycare.
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“The remainder of us who really feel the safety of the vaccine have been capable of transfer on,” she stated. “Dad and mom of youthful kids have been holding their breath.”
Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher said “f— you” to a man during a Thursday meeting at which fishermen assailed him for a state plan to raise the size limit for lobster.
The heated exchange came on the same day that Keliher withdrew the proposal, which came in response to limits from regional regulators concerned with data showing a 35 percent decrease in lobster population in the state’s biggest fishing area.
It comes on the heels of fights between the storied fishery and the federal government over proposed restrictions on fishing gear that are intended to preserve the population of endangered whales off the East Coast. It was alleviated by a six-year pause on new whale rules negotiated in 2022 by Gov. Janet Mills and the state’s congressional delegation.
“I think this is the right thing to do because the future of the industry is at stake for a lot of different reasons,” Keliher told the fishermen of his now-withdrawn change at a meeting in Augusta on Thursday evening, according to a video posted on Facebook.
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After crosstalk from the crowd, Keliher implored them to listen to him. Then, a man yelled that they don’t have to listen to him because the commission “sold out” to federal regulators and Canada.
“F— you, I sold out,” Keliher yelled, prompting an angry response from the fishermen.
“That’s nice. Foul language in the meeting. Good for you. That’s our commissioner,” a man shouted back.
Keliher apologized to the crowd shortly after making the remark and will try to talk with the man he directed the profanity to, department spokesperson Jeff Nichols said. The commissioner issued a Friday statement saying the remarks came as a result of his passion for the industry and criticisms of his motives that he deemed unfair, he said.
“I remain dedicated to working in support of this industry and will continue to strengthen the relationships and build the trust necessary to address the difficult and complex tasks that lay ahead,” Keliher said.
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Spokespeople for Gov. Janet Mills did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether she has spoken to Keliher about his remarks.
Lobstermen pushed back in recent meetings against the state’s plan, challenging the underlying data. Now, fishermen can keep lobsters that measure 3.25 inches from eye socket to tail. The proposal would have raised that limit by 1/16 of an inch and would have been the first time the limit was raised in decades.
The department pulled the limit pending a new stock survey, a move that U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District, hailed in a news release that called the initial proposal “an unnecessary overreaction to questionable stock data.”
Keliher is Maine’s longest-serving commissioner. He has held his job since former Gov. Paul LePage hired him in 2012. Mills, a Democrat, reappointed the Gardiner native after she took office in 2019. Before that, he was a hunting guide, charter boat captain and ran the Coastal Conservation Association of Maine and the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission.
The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Anna Kellar is the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Maine.
This past November, my 98-year-old grandmother was determined that she wasn’t going to miss out on voting for president. She was worried that her ballot wouldn’t arrive in the mail in time. Fortunately, her daughter — my aunt — was able to pick up a ballot for her, bring it to her to fill out, and then return it to the municipal office.
Thousands of Maine people, including elderly and disabled people like my grandmother, rely on third-party ballot delivery to be able to vote. What they don’t know is that a referendum heading to voters this year wants to take away that ability and install other barriers to our constitutional right to vote.
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The “Voter ID for Maine” citizen’s initiative campaign delivered their signatures to the Secretary of State this week, solidifying the prospect of a November referendum. The League of Women Voters of Maine (LWVME) opposes this ballot initiative. We know it is a form of voter suppression.
The voter ID requirement proposed by this campaign would be one of the most restrictive anywhere in the county. It would require photo ID to vote and to vote absentee, and it would exclude a number of currently accepted IDs.
But that’s not all. The legislation behind the referendum is also an attack on absentee voting. It will repeal ongoing absentee voting, where a voter can sign up to have an absentee ballot mailed to them automatically for each election cycle, and it limits the use and number of absentee ballot dropboxes to the point where some towns may find it impractical to offer them. It makes it impossible for voters to request an absentee ballot over the phone. It prevents an authorized third party from delivering an absentee ballot, a service that many elderly and disabled Mainers rely on.
Absentee voting is safe and secure and a popular way to vote for many Mainers. We should be looking for ways to make it more convenient for Maine voters to cast their ballots, not putting obstacles in their way.
Make no mistake: This campaign is a broad attack on voting rights that, if implemented, would disenfranchise many Maine people. It’s disappointing to see Mainers try to impose these barriers on their fellow Mainers’ right to vote when this state is justly proud of its high voter participation rates. These restrictions can and will harm every type of voter, with senior and rural voters experiencing the worst of the disenfranchisement. It will be costly, too. Taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for a new system that is unnecessary, expensive, and harmful to Maine voters.
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All of the evidence suggests that voter IDs don’t prevent voter fraud. Maine has safeguards in place to prevent fraud, cyber attacks, and other kinds of foul play that would attempt to subvert our elections. This proposal is being imported to Maine from an out-of-state playbook (see the latest Ohio voter suppression law) that just doesn’t fit Maine. The “Voter ID for Maine” campaign will likely mislead Mainers into thinking that requiring an ID isn’t a big deal, but it will have immediate impacts on eligible voters. Unfortunately, that may be the whole point, and that’s what the proponents of this measure will likely refuse to admit.
This is not a well-intentioned nonpartisan effort. And we should call this campaign what it is: a broad attack on voting rights in order to suppress voters.
Maine has strong voting rights. We are a leader in the nation. Our small, rural, working-class state has one of the highest voter turnout rates in the country. That’s something to be proud of. We rank this high because of our secure elections, same-day voter registration, no-excuse absentee ballots, and no photo ID laws required to vote. Let’s keep it this way and oppose this voter suppression initiative.
The chair of the Maine Democratic Party announced Thursday she won’t seek reelection when members select leaders later this month.
Bev Uhlenhake, a former city councilor and mayor in Brewer and former chair of the Penobscot County Democrats, has served as chair of the state party since January 2023. She is also a previous vice chair of the party.
In a written statement, Uhlenhake noted some of the recent successes and challenges facing Democrats, including the reelection of Democratic majorities in both the Maine House and Senate last November, though by narrower margins, and winning three of Maine’s four electoral votes for Vice President Kamala Harris.
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“While we have laid a solid foundation from which Maine Democrats can build toward even greater success in 2026 and beyond, I have decided to step away from Maine Democratic Party leadership for personal and professional reasons, and will not seek reelection,” Uhlenhake said.
Party Vice Chair Julian Rogers, who was also elected to his post in 2023, announced he also won’t seek reelection to leadership, but will resume a previous role he held as vice chair of the party’s committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging.
Democratic State Committee members will vote for the party’s next leaders in elections to be held on Sunday, Jan. 26.
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