AUGUSTA, Maine (WABI) – Maine is in the midst of a syndemia that could be the cause of an increase in coronavirus cases.
That’s according to the head of the Maine CDC.
Dr. Nirav Shah explains that they are two parallel epidemics that may or may not be related.
The state gave priority to vaccinating older people.
However, that group of people does not interact largely with the state’s younger population.
“The fact that they have been vaccinated doesn’t really help slow transmission among younger Mainers, who are just getting their vaccination rates up. If you link that kind of syndemic phenomenon with variants that are more contagious, that’s my hypothesis as to why our case numbers are high and maybe stay high and maybe even go higher, ”said Shah, director of Maine CDC.
Shah did say that testing also plays a role in the number of cases.
According to the latest report, Maine tested about 870 people per 100,000.
He says those numbers are among the best in the world.
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