Watch at 1 p.m.: Gov. Mills to announce updates to Maine's vaccination strategy

Feb. 26—Gov. Janet Mills is expected to announce changes to Maine's COVID-19 vaccine strategy Friday afternoon.

Mills is scheduled to hold a virtual press conference at 1 p.m. with Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew and Dr. Nirav Shah, the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, state health officials reported 178 new cases of COVID-19 but no new deaths on Friday as vaccination opportunities continue to expand in Maine.

More than 16 percent of Maine's population — or 217,667 people — had received at least one dose of vaccine while 8.2 percent had received both doses needed to be fully inoculated against COVID-19. With Maine's shipments of doses growing steadily and a third vaccine potentially being added to the mix next week, Mills could announce that she's opening eligibility to people under the age of 70.

While the number of new reported infections varies daily, the overall rate has been trending downward in recent weeks. The seven-day, rolling average of new cases stood at 155 on Friday, up slightly from a daily average of 140 cases for the week ending February 18 but down from 207 for the week ending February 11. Maine's seven-day rolling average peaked at 625 on January 15 amid a post-holiday surge.

The number of Maine people hospitalized Friday with COVID-19 stood at 68, including 23 in critical care and nine on a ventilator. That's less than one-third of the state's peak of 207 hospitalizations on January 13.

The Maine CDC has tracked 44,295 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 since the coronavirus was first detected in the state last March. A total of 701 individuals have died in Maine after contracting COVID-19. Maine has consistently had one of the lowest infection and death rates in the country.

The state's current vaccination campaign is focused on individuals age 70 or older, a population demographic that accounts for more than 85 percent of deaths among individuals with COVID-19 in the state. As of Friday morning, 61.5 percent of Maine's roughly 193,000 residents age 70 or older had received at least one dose of vaccine.

State officials have suggested in recent weeks that eligibility for vaccines could expand to 65- to 69-year-olds in early March if vaccine supplies from the federal government continue to increase. Shipments of vaccine to the Maine CDC are expected to increase more than 8 percent next week to a total of 30,080. Additionally, Walmart, Sam's Club and Walgreens pharmacies in Maine are expected to receive 8,980 doses.

A panel of outside advisors to the Food and Drug Administration will meet Friday to review the data on a single-shot vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson. If the panel recommends approval, as expected, the FDA could issue an emergency use authorization for the J&J vaccine as early as this weekend, opening the door for additional doses for Maine and other states next week.

Meanwhile, two more higher-volume vaccination clinics are expected to open in southern Maine next week — one at the Portland Expo run by Northern Light Health and one in Sanford run by MaineHealth. They will supplement mass vaccination sites currently operating at the former Scarborough Downs harness racing track and at Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

Officials with Northern Light Health said Friday morning that there are appointments available for Tuesday and Thursday at the Portland Expo site, which is being operated by Northern Light Mercy Hospital. Eligible individuals can register for appointments online at covid.northernlighthealth.org or by calling (207) 204-8551.

"We are looking forward to opening this clinic next week, and we are excited to let our community know that appointments are now available," Melissa Skahan, Mercy Hospital vice president and local vaccination site operations lead, said in a statement.

This story will be updated.