Coronavirus

Maine Speeds Up Vaccine Rollout to Meet Biden's May Deadline for Adult Eligibility

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All adults in Maine will be eligible for the coronavirus vaccines by May 1, Gov. Janet Mills announced Friday as she accelerated the state's rollout to meet a deadline President Joe Biden set earlier this week.

People age 60 and older are already eligible for the vaccine. Eligibility will expand to people 50 and older on April 1 and all adults on May 1, the Mills administration said.

"With the Biden Administration promising to increase the supply of vaccine in the next few months, we will do what we had always hoped we could: accelerate our vaccine timeline," Mills said in a statement.

With vaccine production rising, Biden on Thursday urged states to make the vaccine available to all adults by May 1.

Maine's vaccine rollout moved to a completely age-based system at the start of the month, after previously factoring in whether people were frontline workers as well.

The day after President Biden announced that all adult Americans will be eligible for the vaccine by May 1, the White House coronavirus response team outlined their policy changes to achieve this milestone, including streamlined resources to help Americans find vaccination sites and schedule appointments.
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