Officials are eyeing the Augusta Civic Center as the state’s next mass vaccination site, however, details surrounding the plan are still under debate.
It comes at a time when Maine vaccination sites are struggling to expand inoculations as supply remains low.
However, Augusta city councilors are hesitant to sign off on using the civic center as a mass vaccination site as the Maine Legislature continues using the space amid the pandemic, the Kennebec Journal reported.
Augusta City Manager William Bridgeo told the Kennebec Journal that officials are working on a plan to use the North Wing of the civic center for smaller vaccination clinics as soon as Feb. 15, but state officials would have to approve whether to expand it for larger scale operations.
Bridgeo said he and the civic center’s director, Earl Kingsbury, have assured the executive branch that the civic center could accommodate both the vaccination site and the Legislature.
The site — which would be run by MaineGeneral Health — would vaccinate up to 1,000 Mainers per day as vaccinations become available, MaineGeneral spokesperson Joy McKenna told the Kennebec Journal.
If approved, it would be Maine’s fourth mass vaccination clinic. A mass site is likely to open up in mid-February at a s hopping center in Sanford while sites at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor and Scarborough Downs have already opened.