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ten more seconds everyone thank you for your patience my apologies for the delay good afternoon everyone my name is near a and I'm the director of Maine center for disease control and prevention and I am delighted this afternoon to be joined by director Jessica Pollard the director of Maine's office of behavioral health given all of the behavioral health implications that we have all discussed with respect to Kobe nineteen as well as other behavioral health matters on going across the state delighted to welcome director power to join us this afternoon to talk about where we stand with respect to Kobe nineteen holidays and holiday stress and some tips for everybody all star break providing an update on where we stand up it'd be a logically and then turn it over to Dr caller to start us off unfortunately and sadly Maine CDC has received reports of three additional individuals who have died with Kobe nineteen one was a man in his eighties from York County another was a man in his seventies also from your county in the third was a woman in her seventies also from York County their deaths market collectively the three hundred and twenty fourth three hundred and twenty fifth in three hundred and twenty six deaths associated with Kobe nineteen since we began our activation I'd like to take a moment to offer all of their families friends and communities our deepest condolences during this time during this time the reason audio glitch there right now across the state there have been a total of twenty two thousand three hundred and nineteen individuals who have tested positive for cocaine nineteen representing an increase of four hundred and thirty nine cases since yesterday of those nineteen thousand one hundred and twenty eight are confirmed cases in three thousand one hundred and ninety one are probable cases I'd like to take a second to talk about those recent in as well as what we possibly may anticipate in with respective new Kobe cases in the coming days and in the coming weeks first is that if this holidays weekend mirrors last month's holiday weekend it is unlikely if not probable that there will be an increase in the number of new cases in the coming days there are many reasons for this one is that laboratories themselves across the state and across the country maybe themselves working through one day of tests that didn't get run because many many of them took the Christmas holiday all the other thing is that as folks returned to Maine and need to get tested to return into the state governor bills as executive orders or another other instances to get tested because they may feel symptomatic or they may have learned they were exposed during the holiday we expect there to be an increase in the number of tests as is so often the case in public health when you go testing for something you can find it and thus the increase in the number of tests may bring with it an increase in the number of cases also the fact that we at the state level are continuing to improve the way that we review cases and positive lab reports as they come in all of that coupled with the fact that close gatherings which are typified during the holiday season it thanksgiving or last week's holidays often present opportunities for spread and thus that that in and of itself may lead to a higher number of cases all of those factors point in same direction which is the bottom line that there is a high likelihood of an increased and increasing number of cases across the state of Maine in the coming weeks that is a risk and it is one that we are prepared for within Maine CDC but it's also an opportunity to remind everybody but if you've just returned from say a holiday gathering and you've learned that someone at that gathering has now tested positive for covert nineteen you as a close contact can do a couple things immediately the first is make sure you go get tested the optimum time to get tested is approximately five days after your last interaction with someone who is now positive the other thing you can and should do is stay indoors to avoid the likelihood of further transmitting coded across the state turning back to the numbers as I mentioned a moment ago there've been now three hundred and twenty six individuals who have died associated with code nineteen and Jimmy would've we one thousand and thirty two individuals who have been hospitalized right now in Maine one hundred and eighty one people are currently in the hospital with Kobe nineteen forty eight of them are in the intensive care unit in fourteen of them on a ventilator among all of our cases two thousand four hundred and fifteen are among health care workers turning to a moment to discuss some recent outbreaks that Maine CDC is open there are two that I wanted to comment upon today the first is an outbreak investigation that we open earlier today at cheap Scott village day care where we are aware of three cases this is a small private child care program in new castle in Lincoln County we have started working with that facility ever since detecting this outbreak the facility itself shut down on twelve twenty one and aim to re open after they get the all clear from Maine CDC we have worked closely with them to ensure that they are doing everything they need to to keep their facility say the other outbreak investigation that we recently opened his into the A. D. U. USA which is a Hannaford distribution center in winter this is one of nine distribution centers across the state of the nature all of the cases are among employees of this facility and those cases are spread across the facility based on what we've seen based on our initial analysis of this data it suggests that the outbreak is a function of community transmission thank cannon has been occurring in and around that area but given that there are now a total of twenty one cases Maine CDC is taking a hard look at this to make sure that we are providing the facility everything they need in order to reduce the likelihood of transmission beginning or continuing their to occur within the four walls of the facility and finally a quick note on where we stand with respect to vaccines as of this morning now a total of seventeen thousand one hundred and eighty main people who have received their first dose of covert nineteen Baxter I'd like to take a second to talk about where we are right now with respective vaccines and then where we see ourselves go as I've talked about we are squarely in the midst of phase one eight of our vaccine rollout one Hey focuses largely on two groups health care providers and personnel as well as residents and staff of long term care facilities our initial focus and where we are focused right now is around those personnel who work in the hospital in EMS settings as well as a home health to make sure that they have been vaccinated overall those numbers of everyone across phase one day cumulatively represent approximately a hundred and thirty thousand or so individuals as of last week Maine had received approximately forty five thousand total doses so about a third of what we would need to encompass all of phase one Hey right now again our focus is on groups that work in and with hospitals EMS as well as home health providers very soon we expect to be expanding our concentric circles of those whom we vaccinate not just you hospitals M. S. N. health but to other providers yeah I recognize that every single healthcare provider every single person in one day is waiting eagerly and anxiously for the day that they can be vaccinated so they can continue providing needed health care services and the patients that they share I've fully understand that and I get that we are working as quickly as we can just set up an efficient system whereby those health care providers can get vaccinated we anticipate being able to do so very soon however as we've talked about Maine has received less than what we need to make significant in roads across one day our second and third weeks allocations of both vaccines were less than what we initially thought that unfortunately has a the time frame from which it will take us to route through one day right now the question of when individuals will get vaccinated who are part of one day is just that it is a question of when and not if we appreciate that everyone wants to be back sedated immediately and I want nothing more than to be able to vaccinate everyone immediately but given the supply considerations that we have as well as the difficult and challenging logistics that we are facing my view is that it is better to do it right and do it correctly rather than do it fast and get it wrong we are planning for that process right now and again hope to have additional updates very soon probably based on what we see our next week and subsequent weeks allocations looking like I ask everyone to bear with us just a little bit longer again we will be vaccinating everyone in phase one day however making sure we set up a system that works not just for phase one day but also sets us up in a good position for phase one B. and subsequent phases that's got to be something we keep in mind right now as well but I'm sure we'll discuss that in a bit I'd like to turn things over to doctor power to talk about where we stand with respect to Bayview behavioral health care especially during this time of year Dr Broward good afternoon thanks for having me even without a global pandemic this time of year can be difficult for many even before the stress of the holidays the Kobe nineteen public health emergency has challenged our mental health and well being you don't have to be as a Granger even a Scrooge to find the holiday stressful either there is such a thing as good stress things that we find positive or look forward to when they come with increased demand so that can still put a strain on our coping resources when they come with the extra things that we have to do and navigating relationships that break now may come with additional conflicts or disagreements around how to handle gatherings or or how to navigate disagreements about the importance of public health measures are public safety measures so we layer in Corbett nineteen and the many many ways that we've had to adjust our lives in order to keep ourselves and our loved one St it's not unusual to be experiencing a decrease sense of well being difficulty coping or getting along with others restricted sleeper poor mood a tendency or temptation to increase alcohol consumption are use other substances we're creatures of habit and it we can have a hard time with disruptions to routine many of us are worried about the health of our or people we care about many are experiencing financial hardships we're facing increased demands and challenges that work whether your health care professional caring for Kobe nineteen patients a person a teacher managing remote and in person learning a retail worker interacting with customers who are unhappy with that safety measures or any now number of jobs that are now very different than they were a year ago add to that trying to figure out how to maintain that credibly important social connections adjusting to zero or for holiday traditions it would be surprising if there are many people who were not feeling pretty stressed right now the good news though is that there's a lot we can do to manage stress increase coping and resilience and a lot of resources that we can access to prevent these challenges from becoming worse mental health or substance abuse problems our bodies are wired to respond to immediate stress we get fired up or we freeze and over time if we don't take steps to actively calm down our stress reactions we can feel exhausted irritable hands have a poor appetite and so on we know from research on previous disaster situations that we can see surges in mental health and substance use difficulties a year to eighteen months later post disaster so it's really important that we get out ahead of it and take preventative steps developing simple coping strategies out whether it and practicing them on a regular basis setting aside time for that on a daily basis for self care can go a long way whether that's breathing relaxation exercises getting out for a walk in the woods taking a hot bath or any other ways that you respect yourself please invest this time in in at least a little bit each day in your well being some people are vulnerable to mental health and substance challenges and their experiences may cross the line into a health condition that needs extra support and treatment things such as a low mood most of the time for more than a week or two add difficulties stopping or cutting down on substance use feeling unable to control temper sense of hopelessness struggling to function having thoughts of harming yourself or others those are all times that we we think it's important we know it's important for people to reach out for help for themselves or for their loved ones so I really appreciate the opportunity join a briefing today to let people know about resources that are available and to talk about a couple of programs in particular strength in me and the options program as well as remind people about the statewide crisis line in that continue availability of most treatment via telehealth I'm in some cases in person treatment so we have a strength in me program which is the state's response to the Kobe nineteen pandemic up for well being and resilience it comes with the support line that's two zero seven two two one eight one nine eight and that line is for anybody and we also have specific resources for frontline respond hers healthcare professionals and school staff we have the strength in me dot com website the non eighteen tax line support warm line and community health outreach workers as well as a campaign that will be launching soon and resources from behavioral health providers so that's available to anybody who needs that and we've seen over twenty three thousand contacts through that program so far so the really great news is that people are making use of resources and reaching out for help just briefly the options program S. stands for overdose prevention through intensive outreach naloxone and safety that includes a campaign that's coming soon which aims to get the messages out about the importance of not using substances alone today the risk of fatal overdose so alternative strategies to alone the messages that help is available and where to find treatment information about the good Samaritan law so that people don't hesitate to call nine one one if an overdose is suspected and the current dangers of the opiate and other substance supply chain right now a very high likelihood that that substances contained fentanyl which is just a more deadly form of substances and we've seen in prior years this program includes teams of clinicians out so used counselors here's a harm reduction professionals we're partnering with law enforcement and first responders to correspond to when there's a call at about use and to follow up if someone's experience to non fatal overdose and actively outreach to people who are at risk as well as leave behind the locks on and these programs will be available in each county and are launching really as we speak so without state remind people the crisis line is still available while it has seen an increase in volume which suggests that people are experiencing more distress that the other side of that is that means people are reaching out for help for themselves and the people that they care about and that's true also of our warm lines we've seen a significant increase in volume and we've expanded the capacity about that line so that people know twenty four seven there somebody they can call and talk to and get support thanks for having me thank you Dr Broward reshoot it and we will now turn things over to our colleagues in the media and director power and I are happy to take any questions whether they be about Kobe in particular now the behavioral health implications as well to kick us off in the afternoon I will turn things over to Brad Rogers hi can you hear me OK yep go abroad okay great thank Dr pouch is warning the January could be one of the worst month yet for coal but allude to that your our main hospitals ready for more patients how we doing right now I think brandy answer to that is yes we have detained really good and open communication and hospitals areas different planning meetings that occur throughout the week across all of the staff at Maine CDC Maine DHHS hospitals are fully aware of and had seen the same date on the horizon that I've just talked about here the possibility of gatherings leading to more cases the possibility of more cases leading to breaks also does are fully briefed on that at the same time I think it's also important to note that for example right now in Maine we have a hundred and fourteen open and staffed ICU beds available that's a good sign it means that we've got headroom even if the epidemic in the pandemic were to worsen significantly we don't have that challenge right now of needing to say stand up a mobile hospital that is a possibility and it's one that we continue to plan around but for right now our primary aim is making sure hospitals have everything they need to care for with their four walls agency may be coming their way testing supplies he B. E. things of that sort so there will certainly be if there is an increase in which is to be expected there will be a concomitant increase in hospitalizations and sadly the possibility of doubts there after on where we stand right now my view is that hospitals in Maine already all right question productive power to ask about the pandemic when hard for people act with mental health or substance abuse services at least in person I think getting better or worse now with regards to that yeah I would say that if you want to call and a silver lining if you want to say that there's a silver lining to the pandemic it's really banned the cabinet to telehealth that behavioral health provider community has has achieved we saw on average for example that prior to the pandemic the claims for telehealth visits with somewhere around eight hundred to a thousand per week and that shot up to ninety thousand at the at the peak of the of the use during the pandemic so services remain I it may be challenging for people were used to kind of walking in somewhere but our partners at two one one half track to where the changes in operations are for each provider so can connect people to telehealth resources we've seen actually an increase in some of our services during the pandemic so not only are they available but more people have been making use of them and believe it or not in the year twenty twenty you know badly we've seen a couple of of agencies close their doors we've seen far more actually open so there are a few service closures that people have mentioned over that over the course of the year but we've actually seen twelve licensed agencies open since the beginning of twenty twenty and twenty seven news service lines throughout the state no well it it may seem surprising to hear we actually may be seen or greater availability and once the pandemic ends in a rural state like ours we hope that providers will maintain this level of telehealth okay thank you express I'm gonna turn it over to Bob Evans at new center next thank you doctor shot how many days did you have to close down the testing facilities over the holidays and are you concerned about any backlog that may come from that so bomb we we ran our staff had the morning of Christmas off I can only speak to the main CDC laboratory just to be clear I can't speak to other laboratories at outside facilities but Maine CDC staff worked late into the evening on Christmas Eve they have the morning of Christmas day off and then by the morning of the twenty six probably before most of us were up they were back at the lab as of right now in fact I spoke with our lab director this morning because of the late night that they put in on Christmas Eve we started the week we started that we started on the twenty six as well as this week now on the twenty eighth with zero samples in our freezers and zero backlog I can't I don't know simply about what's going on at other laboratories and whether they whether they have found themselves in a similar place generally speaking however laboratories that operate at this level with this type of samples at this caliber usually don't take many days off so I'm not anticipating one what I am anticipating how one being a backlog but what I am anticipating is a high number of people who are returning you may need to get tested or may have been exposed and arson are now starting to feel symptomatic I am expecting an increase in in the testing volume ten and starting to see that over the next couple days okay Dr Pollard who you feel should use the services that you mentioned and how might those services help them anyone to use the services I mean this is a different kind of situation that we've seen in previous uses of these kinds of programs that might have been for a confined of bands that really just about everybody is affected by the stress of coping nineteen and all the adjustments so I would encourage really anybody who's feeling stressed if if they don't already have coping resources that that are doing the trick or they feel like they need to boost their stress management skills I would encourage anybody to make use of the services but certainly anybody who's feeling distressed or hopeless should not hesitate to call the statewide crisis line thank you both Xbox are gonna turn over to Amy brown next thank you Dr Shah I have a couple questions from listeners one asks why and I I think I know the answer to this but why long term facilities are receiving byes are rather than modernize soon that's because visor just was available first and then they also the same person wanted to know if the majority of vaccine is as effective as the others in people over age sixty five so the question the former question Amy is that we chose to use the Fizer vaccine because the pharmacies that are engaged in that partnership have the cold storage requirements of to them in order to utilize that which does freeze up the majority of vaccine or locations that don't have cold storage available so is an operational decision not so much a person mine decision and that's it's important to note as we are going through baxeen planning although we always maintain clinical characteristics friends of mine there are also very technical operational and logistics challenges that we also have to keep in mind so for example the visor vaccine only comes in lots of nine hundred and seventy five and so purpose so we need to utilize and received the Fizer vaccine a first of all have to have a sufficiently large ultra cold storage freezer that can accommodate nine hundred and seventy five doses so they have to have a freezer it's got to be big enough it's got to have space in it and then they've also got to have at least nine hundred and seventy five people on their site that they can vaccinate so these operational considerations also are part of the equation for which facilities get which vaccines based on what we know after to the second question the clinical efficacy of the Fizer vaccine in the maternal vaccine are statistically equivalent to one another across all age groups okay she's asking just to clarify the first part of that about long term care facilities those are the places that have reserves the hospitals right hello well staging areas at chain pharmacies do as well okay and then the other question is what is it no what type of allergies predispose people were an allergic reaction to this vaccine it is not entirely characterized what we can surmise based on the individuals who have experienced an allergic reaction thus far is that a prior to of different types of allergic reaction may may predispose somebody here's what I mean by that based on the cases that I've been briefed across on that occurred across the United States the overture creations have occurred in individuals who for example had a shellfish allergy or who had severe asthma or had allergies to other medications there isn't one unified sort of concept of allergy that predisposes us folks your Nordic reaction to the Kobe backseat the other thing to keep in mind is that there have been over a million doses of Kobe nineteen administered and just a small handful of these allergic reactions what I mean by that Amy is that not everyone with the shellfish allergy we'll have an allergic reaction to the Kobe backs not everyone who has severe uncontrolled asthma which can be a with allergies will have an allergic reaction it's only a certain subgroups why that sub group and not others my colleagues in the immunology world would be able to discuss better than what it means for us however is that for those folks who have a history of allergies they must be observed for at least thirty minutes after they received the vaccine and that's what's happened in Maine and that's why for example we caught the case that we did last week thank you I'm gonna turn things over to Patty Wight next that made public thank you Dr Shah I'm interested the vaccinations for providers who work outside of hospital systems understanding that your hampered by limited supply of doses and a lack of clarity about how many doses we can expect you know beyond a week or so can you give any kind of estimate for when these providers could reasonably expect to get vaccinated yep so Perry in my mind my concept here is that this is like an expanding set of concentric circles and at the very center are the groups that I mentioned frontline hospital based workers EMS clinicians home health there's another circle in there after which are individual health care providers who for example I'm not necessarily putting these groups under that order but for example who work with the highest risk most vulnerable patients is maybe folks who work at dialysis centers or in cancer and oncology infusion centers and then there's another circle there and then another circle thereafter we are hoping with in the coming two weeks to be able to start expanding that those rings outward and outward and outward we are doing so again wanting to shore up everyone who practices in their inner circle first for example not every EMS clinician in Maine has gotten their vaccine yet not every home health provider not every frontline hospital worker yet so we are still focused on that innermost circle but hoping next week and or the week there to begin expanding the ambit of those circles just say those who work with dialysis patients those who work in oncology those who work with other high risk patients it is a bit of a balance because there are these operational considerations that I mention with Amy for example there's a location have the requisite type of storage and freezer freezing capability have they got a provider agreement in place are they used to administrate mass vaccination many of these sites already are so I don't mean to suggest that an exclusionary criteria but at the same time we've got to make sure the logistics are all shored up the worst thing that can happen is that we deliver a vaccine to our group before they are hundred percent ready when that backs scene could have been utilized in someone elses arms so I let me just say really quickly Patty I absolutely here understand and agree with the concerns that independent medical providers have expressed absolutely do I don't quibble with that one bit it is just a question of how quickly we can race through that inner circle so we can start expanding outward on it and in how have you been able to determine how you're going going to get in touch with and providers just to let them know and I'm thinking even beyond medic you know serve traditional like our primary care physicians about paper health workers you know kind of that whole group in the health care rom exactly so I think what we are going to most likely due with our first venue is to work with their respective person their respective professional societies so for example for mental health providers work with their respective society for dentists who are also top of mind for us right now given that they work in close proximity and are conducting aerosol generating procedures will be working most most most importantly in primarily with the dental association similarly just later this afternoon we're meeting with medical providers as well so I think that is being that will be the mechanism of how we get in touch with them to put that into a bit more of a rubric Patty this process involves three distinct buckets or workstreams one is identification who are we talking about who who what what ring of the circle wherein number two notification the question you asked are we gonna let folks know and the number three vaccination vaccination pieces over just question if a provider happens to be a part of a clinic it has an agreement on file with the beast a hundred people at it let alone nine hundred and seventy five we can reasonably ship an entire palette of vaccine to them but if they happen to be at a clinic with it only has safe people out there maybe the better thing in the more logistically straightforward thing to do is to have folks rather than shipping back teen to them because it only comes in lots of one hundred or nine seventy five maybe it's easier to have those folks go to a central location those are the really difficult logistical questions that we gotta have strong answers on and get it right before we go too quickly I thank you I'm gonna turn things over to Joe Lawlor next a hi on the stock a few questions Maxine distribution arm I know you said you received was seventeen thousand and hundred and eighty what types of shipments are you expecting this week and it is it the other shipments this week also less than what you were originally anticipating I little bit Joseph this week we are expecting to receive in Maine nineteen thousand one hundred and twenty five doses of vaccine the breakdown of that is as follows and so just don't level said Joe this is week three of operation vaccinate main week one was the week of December fourteenth week to the week of the twenty first and now we are we are in week three weeks three encompasses roughly nineteen thousand one hundred and twenty five does the breakdown of that is ten thousand seven hundred and twenty five Fizer doses in eighty four hundred met during a dance those vaccines are going to different respective places we posted the allocation on our website last week as well but generally speaking about eight thousand of those nineteen thousand doses are going to be directed to a long term care facilities and the staff who provide care program and the other approximately eleven thousand will go ten non long term care facilities M. S. hospitals home health I I don't think I answer your question though Joe what was your question exactly I so it is that is the shipment that your expecting this week is that also less than what you're anticipating or is it about the same no it was it than what we were anticipating what we thought we were going to get roughly one week ago today was about three hundred and fifty more doses of two hundred and more doses than what we are actually going to be receiving this week that is the second week in a row when we are we are receiving less than what we were initially projected to receive okay and sorry just to but the the amount that you're being shorted by it is less than the amount that you're sorted by previously is that correct that's correct in the previous week in week two we received approximately thirty six percent less of the Pfizer vaccine than we were initially told this past week it was a smaller amount by that by which we were shorted up which is a good thing but still not what we were told that your internship D. three and seventy doses that's that that's a sizeable amount number we're talking for example about smaller community practices practice groups oncology clinics dialysis centers dental offices that really adds up so those those those when will we get doesn't match what we planned for we've got to go back to the drawing board and we do all of the math to make sure it's still adds up okay and then I a couple of little things on just to double check what on Patty Wight was asking you about so I think what you were saying is that for like s y independent health care provider at the independent health care providers should expect vaccine clinics to be ordinated with the main medical association or their respective professional society all right a dental practice in by and I don't want to overstate a joke I don't know that it will be coordinated with those professional groups we are working with and consulting with those groups among many others we're getting input on the best way so if I'm the best way to deliver vaccine choose a particularly smaller independent medical practices there are a large multi specialty practices across Maine who because of their size can receive a direct shipment of vaccine because none of it will go to waste but a smaller practice we're getting input on how we can deliver a vaccine to them or buy converse whether it makes more sense to ask those folks to go somewhere we're exploring whether maybe we can can join practices so maybe for practices that have twenty five staff members each could join forces and get one shipment although that requires logistics unto itself so maybe the ultimate thing will be to ask those folks to travel a bit of a ways to get vaccinated as central location that's what we are getting input on from a number of different venues right now okay at and sorry just one last little thing I know you said a lot about ten days ago or so about people getting the vaccination cards when they get as proof of vaccination I'm will they be getting those in digital form at and also what will count as proof of vaccination or just be like a reminder card well it so there is there have been discussions at the U. S. CDC level about precisely what you're discussing Joe whether there will be an electronic verification form that indicates that someone has received both of their doses when they got them the what what number weather will be just the old school paper method I came to the yellow fever cards that many folks may have seen if they traveled into a number of countries the U. S. CDC is trying to come up with the unified system so that all states are doing it in a larger uniform fashion and you don't have this piecemeal approach up a hundred different apps out there that purport to be able to verify your vaccine status I don't think there's been a final answer from the U. S. CDC although I am aware that they are trying to come up with something you know are gonna turn things over to Allison Ross next hi doctor I think the market though just kind of thinking back in the vaccination but more specifically to talking about dentist you've mentioned them a few times and I know you kind of can't play when they're going to be vaccinated but is there any estimate on the time line and then members of the main dental association of that they would be willing to help with the vaccination effort is that something that means you need be it still considering sure so Allison again I I am fully on board with getting everyone within phase one a dental providers and dental professionals included they are in close proximity to patients often in settings where aerosoles are being generated so I am we we are working as hard as we can to make sure they have access to vaccines I I really can't speculate as to when that may be just to be candid we're hoping it's soon I want to ensure I'm sure every single member of the dental community is watching right now you haven't been forgotten about are in line how quickly that line moves is governed by how much vaccine may receipts that's really the break on the system right now so Alex and I hear your you're coming from and I most definitely here where our dental colleagues are coming from it is a question of when not if and how quickly that precedes route really governed by how much vaccine we get if you heard me just mention to Joe are weak to allocation was for Fizer about thirty plus percent lower than we thought and are week three that just is coming in right now was about three hundred plus doses less than we thought unfortunately being shorted in that fashion has system wide implications it's on its way but I don't have it I don't have a firm date I know that's the one thing that everyone wants it's the one thing I wish I could provide hopefully I will be able to stand but at the same time I don't have it right now and I don't want to over promise no we absolutely applaud and thank our dental colleagues or there assistance and but willing to volunteer with us we will certainly need all hands on deck as we get more into phase one B. and one C. which will involve vaccinating larger numbers of Maine people in very high throughput fashion I don't know to what extent did where dental providers may be best able to help but we definitely look forward to welcoming welcoming them to the table right thank you turn it over to and we tell a lot next he took a shot so my first question is asked actually about East Side nursing home a couple of my colleagues have reported I just need some confirmation on how many cases were seeing there sure so as of the latest numbers that I have R. as of yesterday I haven't touched base with the outbreak investigator to update my numbers as of this morning but as of yesterday we were we were recording or about thirty six total cases twenty three of which were among residents and thirteen of which were among staff members that number may have gone up and if as they are conducting additional rounds of testing as you're aware employed is likely to go up so that's the number I've got as a twenty six hours ago okay thanks my next question is on what we were talking about at the last NEC briefing and I just kind of one to ask it in a different way so there are a lot of numbers and figures out there on this the main CC website so what number or metric should Mainers be looking out for an accurate representation of what's happening with the virus day to day burst yeah yep the question I ask myself it's a question my mother asks me on I'm pretty much every single day and here's what I tell our I I I I I asked my mom to take a look at really one number right now that tells me where things are and that's the hospital rate aspiro is Asian rate kind of sums up not just what is going on in the community but also the severity of what's happening generally speaking we've seen a certain percentage of folks who have gotten coded needing to be hospitalized and it's it's buried good and I can get you some of the models figures that we use but the hospitalization rate is one of those numbers that is reported to us every single day by the hospitals Christmas thanksgiving new year's day included it is based on a fixed number of variables that is to say unlike positivity rate which has that denominator of how many tests are being done hospitalization rate relatively fixed and it again in a glance tells you what's going on both in the community as well as gives you a sense to Brad Rogers earlier question about where we are with respect to preparedness and capacity in our system overall so that's the number that's one of the numbers that I look at earlier in the pandemic I really focused on on positivity rate because our goal is to expand testing positivity rate rate really helps you get a sense of whether you're testing it out I still look at that so the second number I look at after I take a look at hospitalizations is positivity so I kind of had an idea you might say that so I'm can we break that into me make that number that positivity rate more predominant on the website for people on and then is there any way that we can see that positivity rate for each county because a lot of people are really wondering what's happening in their specific county in their specific community is there any way we can see that short so I'm only adds to the former question we just updated our website in light of what you noted late last week with a with a brand new set of data visualisations that break out the positivity rate as well as where we are with our tests that we're reviewing and we put all that in a brand new visualization on the website so I think that is there a week also further break out the positivity rate as I've done previously by P. C. R. as well as antigen even though they are both markers of infections which is important it's also important to keep them separated the some degree so that's on our website it should be it and that so that's the way it's right up top it's even before the tables with all of the data and everything now with respect to breaking it out by county we've looked into doing that it does require you know it's it's something we can do although and we can look into that further Emily although I think what I'm about to say will not surprise you which is that the virus is everywhere and although the positivity rate which by the way is on a PDF it's not visualized but it is found on our website we're not hiding those data there's a PDF that you can click on that's updated every Thursday with the latest positivity rate in case rate by county it's just not graphically visualized so that is on the website it's just important to note that well it's well it's always a good idea to know what's going on in your backyard it's just really important right now to recognize that the virus is everywhere and as I've talked about previously there is a trade off between letting folks know what's going on in their backyard or front yard and not providing a false sense of security so not having people say well in my zip code there is been seven cases so it's fine for me to do whatever I want you today or the positivity rated my county is it high as it is in the adjacent counties so I'm fine but as we know the virus is everywhere and it doesn't respect those county borders so I think we just have to acknowledge that there's a trade off but bottom line both of the things that you ask for it noted are both on the website awesome great I can't I didn't assume you're going to say I do have a question from a viewer she wanted me to ask should people with an auto immune disease like lupus or something like that be getting back to me so according to the U. S. CDC there is no contract indication for folks with auto immune disorders lupus and others there is no country indication to getting the Copa baxeen what if folks have concerns or questions they should check in with their primary care physician or their rheumatologist to make sure there is no official contraindicated but as is so often the case when it comes to things like crowded individual circumstances made so I can't provide any medical advice I can say there is no country in two cation but for folks who have more questions they should absolutely check in with their primary care doctor or their as always thank you you are welcome are gonna turn it over to eastern next thank you doctor Shaw I apologize in advance will bring the third person today to ask you what vaccines statistics but that's what my first question is so over the past three weeks it you tell me what is the total number of vaccine doses mean is short of the expected total by and why is this really happening okay so let me do the math real quick on the total number and you sure don't want to get it wrong I am generally in my head but I want to make sure I carried the zero right so I'll get you the exact number it's on the order of a couple thousand doses though that's between week two and week three and again we'll get you the exact number in just a bit by I. in week two we were we were down about thirty six percent of the Fizer vaccine based on what we thought we would get and then in this current week that is starting right now as I mentioned to you earlier and Patty about three hundred fifty doses well sum that up and get you the exact number okay this is not a function of main CDC this is a function of operation works even though I use words like order from time to time the reality is is that what happens is that in the early part of each week the state of Maine receives from operation warp speed we are told what our allocation will be for the subsequent week of both visor and maturing allocations we are given that number of those aggregate numbers and then we in turn have to let corporation warp speed no the names a map an addresses of where we want those boxes shipped to whether it is Fizer going to a Medical Center acts or mature not going to a home healthcare agency wide or EMS agencies G. we provide the names and addresses and they drop ship them to so it's not really in order as much as it is being told by domino's how many pizzas you're getting and you're just telling them where you want them delivered to what we've been told in terms of why a the drop in the Pfizer vaccine a general person are briefed state health officials to Saturdays ago about why that occurred and he said it had to do with it to day difference between when the vaccine was being produced and when it was actually ready to be shipped and there was according to general garner a bit of a miscommunication on the operation work speed side basically just because a vaccine had come off the production line didn't mean it was ready to be put into ultra cold storage and for and shipped out and that that does that difference led to the reduction even trust general Perna I hope that those but I hope that we don't see that recur in the future okay thank you my second question is about pharmacies so do you know how many pharmacies in Maine have also cold freezer units restoring the fires racks even end up is there anything means anything can do to help more main pharmacies get those storage units so the key here hear sure is that it's not so much the the pharmacy down the street that's got to have the ultra cold storage as it relates to the pharmacy partnership the vaccinate long term care those those vaccines are being held at central staging centers those are the places that have the ultra cold storage units the lights are being broken up in painstaking fashion pretty difficult to do that and they are being dosed out allocated out to the teams that are going on site to conduct the vaccine administration so it's not as if your local CVS seven ultra cold storage it's more that the mass staging areas that these commercial chain pharmacies utilize they are the ones who have the altar cold storages we have not recorded any reports of shortages of storage at bat at those locations thank you enter round us out for the afternoon I'm gonna turn to David Horowitz from ABC yes thank you have to questions first one is for doctor show on the next one for Dr Pollard on this may be a very hard question to answer but do you anticipate now that vaccines are available and that they will eventually be widely available that this will lead to the end of the pandemic I understand that's the goal of the vaccine but you can this is the light at the end of the tunnel so it is definitely a white delight at the end of a very long twisting and turning and convoluted tunnel it's going to take us time to get to the end of that tunnel make no mistake it could be well into twenty twenty one before the vaccination effort that we are undertaking const your fruition think about it this way David of the one point of the one million three hundred forty four thousand people in Maine we've got to get shots into there arms twice so that's about two point six eight million events that have to occur vaccines that have to be put into focus as arms for us to get a hundred percent vaccination even if we got to that point the question you asked if it is will this bring the pandemic to the end to an end well I think what what large massive scale backs singing will do will be to help us get back on the path to returning toward normal I don't know what that what I don't know what that world of normal will look like well there will look like what things looked like a year ago in December twenty nineteen or whether we'll be some modified for there is a notion out there that the vaccine will radic it coded from the face of the planet that unfortunately will not happen what is likely to happen even after we have gone through this mass vaccination is that code will still be with us will be in numbers that are small but there will be from time to time breaks whereabouts of coded perhaps among groups tha didn't get vaccinated perhaps among groups where there weren't enough people vaccinated so while we all hope for coded to be vanquished from the globe probably won't happen what is more likely to happen and what I'm hoping for is that massive vaccination allows us to get back to the things that we missed so much being able to hang out with friends and family being able to embrace each other being able to be close to one another maybe even being able to go to a concert when that happens that's the big question sorry thank you and the next question is for Dr Pollard we spoke briefly about some silver linings and I was just wondering that you know personally I've heard a lot of people talk about how the gained perspective and I know there's been a lot of negative things happening as a result of the pandemic but do you think there is some positive that people have gained absolutely I think that you know besides the one I mentioned which is really demonstrating that we are capable of making telehealth widely available which is important for people who lack transportation or who live in a areas I think for a lot of people the way they've coped is expression of gratitude and and focusing on the things for which we feel grateful and keeping things in perspective about what we do have and what is important to us you know these things that were missing I do think that you know it's it's fine for us to to be sadder to be stressed out about the things that we don't have access to but the way that we shift our frame to think about you know how important it is that we take care of one another and how important our loved ones are to us and why we take these measures to protect them I think that that really important focus or increased focus on what matters to us is another one of those potentially positives out of a really difficult situation sorry thank you thank you David thank all of our colleagues in the media for joining this is joining us this afternoon especially like to thank Dr powered for joining in talking about the stresses and strains that we are all feeling at this time of the year Dr property if you've got any closing words alternate it back over to you if not we can wrap up now just at you know I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about such an important topic and encourage people not to wait and they feel really poorly enough you're struggling even a little bit of your stressed out don't wait prevention is is as important for mental health as it is for other parts of our health great thank you very much and thank you all for taking a little bit of time out of your afternoon to join Dr power to me to hear about where we stand with respect to all things code nineteen across the state of Maine I hope everyone had a restful and helpful and productive holiday week hope you got to re charge a little bit we've got another holiday week coming up we will be joining you this week not just today but Wednesday not being with you want Friday but we're zooming in the brand new year with these updates and briefings until then I hope everyone has a good afternoon as always please be kind and take care of one another we will talk again on Wednesday thank