Cumberland County has more 5- to 11-year-olds fully vaccinated against COVID-19 than any county east of the Mississippi, a Bangor Daily News analysis of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows.
More than 60 percent of Cumberland County’s 21,000 residents aged 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated, the data show. It’s a rate that is far higher than counties containing Boston, New York City and Los Angeles. The county ranks fourth in the nation for COVID-19 vaccinations in that age group.
The data reflect how seriously Portland has taken COVID-19 precautions since the beginning of the pandemic. With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expected to authorize the COVID-19 vaccine for children six months to four years old as early as the end of February, it could reflect what the vaccine drive will look like in Cumberland County as some of the last Americans become eligible for the shot.
For Emily Russo, 42, co-owner of Print: A Bookstore, of South Portland, it was a question of when, not if, she would get her children vaccinated. They received both shots in clinics run by the South Portland School Department shortly after they became available on Nov. 2.
The shots are widely deemed safe and effective for children by doctors and scientists, Russo noted.
“I believe in science. I believe in vaccines,” she said. “We were going to do everything in our power to protect our kids.”
Although she thinks she would have vaccinated her children otherwise, one event only cemented her feelings: her nine-year-old son, who has asthma, was hospitalized in February 2020 with a lung rupture. While he recovered that month, she was forced to deal with the anxiety of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States just a few weeks later.
After years of pandemic worry, getting both her children vaccinated was an “unbelievable relief,” she said. Her decision to do so early may have already paid off: Russo found out Wednesday evening that she had contracted a breakthrough case of COVID-19.
While she is unsure if her children have it, she said the vaccines allow her the comfort of knowing that her son and daughter are at far lower risk.
Of the around 3,100 counties and counties-equivalent in the 50 U.S. states and Washington D.C., only Marin and San Francisco counties, both in the San Francisco area, and Starr County in Texas have higher rates than Maine’s Cumberland County. Starr County is most well-known for being the most heavily Latino county in the United States.
The data also reflect that the U.S. has a long way to go in its vaccine effort: counties in the 50 states and D.C. had an average of just 11 percent of their 5- to 11-year-olds vaccinated, though those rates are much higher in urban areas than rural counties.
While children are less likely to get severely ill from COVID-19 than adults, the sheer numbers of infections from the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID-19 has put many children under 12 in the hospital across the U.S. Some have died.
The high number of vaccinated children in Cumberland County was a testament to families and staff in the Portland Public Schools who understand that vaccines and boosters are the best protection against the coronavirus, said Tess Nacelewicz, a spokesperson for Portland Public Schools
“[We] are pleased, but not surprised,” said Nacelewicz, who also noted the role of the district’s nurses as well as community volunteers in organizing and running in-school vaccination clinics for 5- to 11-year-olds shortly after the shots were permitted by the feds.
Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson Robert Long said the number was not surprising given that Maine consistently ranks among the most fully vaccinated and boosted states.
“We are grateful to our partners, including health care providers and school systems, for their efforts to vaccinate younger Mainers, and remain committed to making vaccination easy and accessible for all Maine residents,” Long said.
The Portland area has a community spirit that has made many residents think about the broader implications of vaccinating their children, said Dr. Ali Kopelman, a pediatrician who has a private practice at Personalized Pediatrics of Maine in Portland.
Many parents also want to make sure their children can stay in learning in-person in school, she said.
Kopelman herself has administered more than 300 COVID-19 doses to 5- to 11-year-olds. She will be more than ready to administer shots to younger kids once the FDA takes action. With many Portland-area parents anxious to finish vaccinating their family, she expects there to again be high demand.
“There is some cocoon created if all the other family members are vaccinated,” Kopleman said. “But there’s now the most vulnerable part of the population.”