The pandemic surges across the United States occasionally resemble the rollercoaster’s ups and downs.

Yesterday, I wrote about the wild situation in Vermont, where nearly 90% of its citizens are vaccinated, and the pandemic is producing daily records of new cases of COVID-19.

Today, the link below mentioned that Wyoming is next to the bottom in vaccinated citizens with a little over 40%, and they are tapering downward from the Delta surge and record high daily deaths. The daily deaths are still averaging in single digits but twice as high as last winter’s coronavirus surge. https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/virus-outbreak/2021/10/25/id/1041909/

Maine & COVID-19

https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/airborne/coronavirus/data.shtml. Maine’s long winter (2020-21) started in late October 2020 and peaked in the middle of January 2021 with around 800 new cases/day, only to see another quick surge begin in March 2021 with over 650 new cases/day.

Then the Delta variant raised its ugly head and escalated upward during the middle of July 2021. The Delta surge started just a few weeks after the last surge calmed down to pre-surge levels seen in mid-2020. Daily new cases from the Delta surge passed the 900 mark several times. It appears that the escalation has stopped, and the number of new cases is starting to decline.

Maine Daily Deaths

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/maine/. I was intrigued that the state government link from Maine included total deaths but did not show a history. Yet, their hospitalization statistics are very detailed.

COVID-19 daily deaths are representative of the previous winter 2020-21 surge but at about two-thirds the level. Most of the time, the weekly average is in single digits. The total number of deaths associated with the Delta surge is less than expected, with higher increases in new cases. The vaccine must be working well to prevent deaths.

Maine & COVID-19 Hospitalizations

https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/airborne/coronavirus/data.shtml. I rarely use the same link twice in my articles – this may be the first time. However, the data presented is far better than I can find from other sources.

When the pandemic started in or around March 2020, Maine had a small spike in hospitalizations but remained in the single digits on average. However, the long winter 2020-21 surge saw hospitalizations averaging almost twenty/day in mid-December and mid-single digits with a rebound surge in late March 2021. Delta surge COVID-19 hospitalizations are continuing to climb – currently averaging around 20/day.

Conclusion

Maine has over 70% of its citizens fully vaccinated, and over 75% have had at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine. Like Vermont, Maine has the fourth-highest vaccination rate in the United States – https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-percentage-of-population-vaccinated-march-15.html.

The mRNA vaccines are failing (preventing infection) and will continue to degrade over time. Nevertheless, fully vaccinated people are filling hospitals – 248 confirmed and another thousand-plus believed to be breakthrough cases. Ninety-two deaths are directly attributed to breakthrough patients, with another four-hundred-plus believed to be breakthrough deaths.

Single-digit deaths may not sound like a lot, but in a small state, it is a lot. Since last October, Maine has not had breathing room to recoup and implement effective prevention programs. The mRNA vaccine failure (infection prevention) and the delayed Delta variant invasion led to a perfect storm of new cases and hospitalizations, yet lower than expected daily deaths.

I plan to review Wyoming tomorrow since it is a state with a very low vaccination rate. It will be interesting to see how states with extremely high vaccination rates
compared to those at the bottom of the rung.

Live Longer & Enjoy Life! – Red O’Laughlin – RedOLaughlin.com

 

 

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