My fundamental goal throughout this pandemic has been to save lives, plain and simple. With the introduction of vaccines last month, we received a welcome, critical new tool, and we were ready to use it.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

Maine has worked so hard to distribute vaccines quickly, efficiently and equitably, and it shows – we have ranked high among the states nationwide for the percentage of vaccine doses distributed, and just earlier this week, Vice President Mike Pence recognized Maine as one of the leading states nationwide in rapid distribution of the vaccine on a call with the nation’s governors.

Excluding the doses provided to the retail pharmacy long-term care program administered by the federal government, 82 percent of the first doses of vaccines Maine has received have been administered.

That is good news, but we still have a ways to go — and significant challenges to overcome — to vaccinate all eligible people in the State of Maine.

The biggest problem is that Maine is receiving a limited, unpredictable and inconsistent number of doses every week from the federal government. And just today, we found out that the Federal government does not actually have second doses held in reserve as they first told us. My Administration and all the other governors are still trying to find out about this.

But based on our limited supply, in the first phase or Phase 1a of vaccine distributions in Maine, we have focused on protecting our health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities.
Protecting health care personnel is like when you get on the plane, and you’re taking care of somebody else, and they tell you to put your mask on first before you help somebody else in the case of an emergency.

To further protect emergency response services and COVID-19 response infrastructure, we are expanding Phase 1a to include other first responders and public safety personnel including firefighters, police, prison staff etc. We are also expanding 1a to include certain personnel who are critical to Maine’s or the nation’s COVID-19 response – people who are actually manufacturing test supplies and whatnot.

Based on the advice of the Maine CDC, I want you to know I received my first dose of the Moderna vaccine on Friday under this expansion of critical covid personnel. I will receive my second and final dose of the vaccine in 28 days.

It was painless, and I was excited to be vaccinated.

This week, I also announced that we are updating Phase1b of our vaccination program to include older Maine people, beginning with those who are 70 and older, and adults with high-risk medical conditions.

Let me be clear though — if you’re 70 and over, please don’t rush to call your doctor’s office when you hear this. They are not ready to give the vaccine yet.  More information on vaccination for people age 70 and older in Maine will be available the week of January 18. Coming right up. For now, please continue to be patient.

We are making this change because we know that Maine has a larger proportion of older people and people with underlying health conditions than other states. We also know that COVID-19 poses a greater risk of serious illness or death to older people and to those with underlying health conditions.

My question, every step of the way has been, who is it that is most likely to suffer and die if they don’t get the vaccine right off.

Right now, with our limited supply, we have to focus on saving as many lives as possible, but my Administration will work hard in the coming days, weeks, and months to take whatever supply of vaccine we get from the Federal government, turn it around quickly and efficiently, and make sure as many Maine people as possible get vaccinated.

I also want to thank all of our medical providers who are working quickly to get vaccines into the arms of Maine people.

Please, help them do their jobs by continuing to stay safe, take the steps we know keep everybody safe – wear your mask, wash your hands, watch your distance and avoid gatherings, whether you’ve been vaccinated or not. These things will keep us all safe during the pandemic.

This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.

State government cannot be all things to all people all the time. Nor can it solve all the problems or address all the needs of the people of the state. But during emergencies such as the current pandemic, the people need to depend on us in state government to protect children, to secure health care, to safeguard educational and vocational opportunities and protect the most vulnerable of our citizens.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills.

At the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, we responded with fiscal pragmatism to immediately stabilize the state budget and to curtail spending.

I am pleased to report that those fiscally responsible steps, combined with federal coronavirus relief funds, will allow us to fulfil our remaining commitments for this fiscal year and to carry over resources to cover the shortfall in the upcoming biennium.

In light of these developments, this week I have presented a balanced supplemental budget for the current fiscal year and a balanced biennial budget proposal to the Legislature to maintain the critical services that we restored in the last biennium and to bolster our response to the still raging pandemic, while tightening our belts and maximizing savings. 

These budgets balance any increases in departmental spending with reductions elsewhere, while avoiding layoffs and ensuring vital services.

The proposals do not change tax rates and they don’t create new programs. They not only preserve the State’s Budget Stabilization Fund or Rainy Day Fund, but bring it to a record high level to maintain the state’s solid financial footing and allow us to be prepared for any financial crises.

You can read the details of my proposals at maine.gov/governor/mills

I take seriously my obligation to be a responsible steward of taxpayers' dollars. But I am also not going to walk away from Maine families in their time of greatest need.

For almost a year, teachers and school staff have shepherded our children through hybrid, remote and in person classes while protecting their health and safety; health care clinicians have worked around the clock to test and treat Maine people for a new and deadly disease; long term care providers and direct care workers have risked their own health to take care of older Mainers and those with disabilities; children have learned and parents have worked remotely to keep themselves and others safe; and families have struggled to survive job losses and losses of income caused by a pandemic not of their making.

With the pandemic still raging, we can't and won’t abandon these people now. We need to keep the ship of state steady as we weather this storm.

These budgets are a blueprint for common sense, compassion, and community during our time of greatest need.

They hold onto the vision of Maine as the safest, healthiest, and most beautiful state in the nation.

May it be so.

This is Governor Janet Mills.

Thank you for listening.

A year ago we counted down from ten and watched the ball drop, fireworks explode, and confetti fall. We wished our closest friends and family Happy New Year and, with great expectations, we welcomed in the year 2020.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening. 

We end this year grieving — grieving the loss of loved ones, the loss of jobs, the loss of income, the loss of friends; milestones missed, weddings postposed, graduations online, birthdays alone. Holidays smaller.

We grieve the lives we were living, and the ones we wanted to live, before we ever heard of COVID-19. 

At the same time, the pandemic has further revealed the character of Maine people: tough and kind; resilient and compassionate. Steadfast. 

So we are also grateful – for our strengths, for the people who sacrificed so much to keep us safe. 

We are grateful to the nurses and doctors, custodians and clinicians who worked around the clock to keep our hospitals open and to save as many lives as possible. 

We are grateful to the teachers, education techs, school bus drivers and school staff who educate our kids in creative ways while keeping them all healthy. 

We are grateful to the first responders — EMS, firefighters, police, dispatchers — protecting and serving us all amid a pandemic. 

We are grateful to the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for their round the clock work running tests, reporting results, tracing contacts, containing outbreaks, and keeping people informed and safe as much as possible.

We are grateful to small business owners who have adapted in so many ways to uncommon conditions, serving our state by manufacturing PPE, hand sanitizer, face coverings, ballot drop boxes and face coverings, and installing plexiglass and outdoor tents. 

We are grateful to the grocery store clerks, gas station attendants, restaurant workers, fast food cashiers, delivery drivers, utility crews and plow drivers — people who never stopped making sure that we had food to eat, warm homes and safe roads.

Grief and gratitude. 

Like people all across the world, I am reflecting on last year and making resolutions for the next year.

As of this weekend, more than 27,000 people have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in Maine. For the first time, we have more people who have been vaccinated than people who have had COVID, a positive milestone. We are distributing vaccines as quickly, equitably and efficiently as possible. We will continue well into the new year until every eligible person in our state is vaccinated.  

In the meantime, the next few weeks and months will be so difficult as the pandemic rages across our state and our nation. The holiday season is bound to have an impact on transmission. But we also have hope.

Hope for a better and brighter new year, if we can protect our own health and the health of one another by following the precautions we know will keep people safe while we all wait to be vaccinated. 

This holiday weekend, as you have with other holidays, remember to find new and creative ways to connect with friends and loved ones. 

Please, wear your mask everywhere, indoors and outdoors, watch your distance, wash your hands, and avoid gatherings — in homes, cars, bars and stores — with any people outside your “bubble,” or immediate household. If you do visit with other people, keep it brief and outdoors where there is a lower risk of transmission. This virus is still raging.

Remember too that even in normal times, the holidays can be a difficult time for many. So, let’s check on our neighbors, help those who are struggling, and extend a hand in kindness. Simple things can make a difference in the lives of others.  

Emily Dickinson wrote: “Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all – “ 

With grief for so much that we have lost and gratitude for those we love and those who serve the state, we say goodbye to 2020. 

With hope for a new year that will bring health and happiness, we welcome in the year 2021.

Please stay safe this holiday weekend. We will get through this together. We are Maine Strong.

This is Governor Janet Mills.

Thank you for listening. 

On Tuesday morning, Kayla Mitchell, a registered nurse at Maine Med’s intensive care unit, was vaccinated with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. She was among the first in Maine to receive this life-saving vaccine as soon as the first shipment arrived around the state to be administered to high risk frontline health care workers.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

After rolling up her sleeve, Ms. Mitchell said, “I trust the science and I trust that receiving the vaccine is a safer alternative to how critically ill patients are suffering. I’ve seen enough,” she said. “People are scared and they end up alone. It’s exhausting and it’s relentless.”

She’s right. The coronavirus pandemic has been relentless and this second surge is raging; but the arrival of a vaccine is a beacon of hope in this otherwise difficult time.

The logistical feats of distributing vaccines as soon as they are FDA approved to all corners of the state is the result of months of collaboration by Maine hospital systems, health care people, long term care facilities, pharmacies, the Federal government, the Maine CDC and DHHS, and others. I thank all of them for their efforts to protect the health and safety of Maine people.  

This initial shipment of course is just the beginning of what will be a months long process to receive, distribute, and administer the vaccine, among other new vaccines, as they become available. 

We will keep updating and refining the vaccine plan, with the anticipated FDA authorization of other vaccines, with any changes in supply, overcoming logistical hurdles, with the hoped-for increase in Federal support. And, above all, we will distribute vaccines in the quickest, most efficient, and most equitable manners possible. 

Some have asked me when I will get vaccinated. Let me be clear – I have every confidence in the recently approved COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine, and I expect I will be vaccinated when the Maine CDC’s vaccine plan determines it is appropriate for me to do so, following US CDC guidelines.

The arrival of the vaccine this week lifted our spirits. We share the sense of relief for frontline health care workers like Kayla Mitchell, many of whom are exhausted, having worked around the clock to comfort people and save lives. At the same time, let’s remember, it will take many months to make this vaccine widely available, and these vaccines often require two doses that are weeks apart.

Meanwhile, the virus is rampant. It is stealing the lives of Maine people and making hundreds and hundreds of others very ill, with sometimes long-term after affects. And, with nearly two hundred people in hospitals right now fighting to survive in Maine alone.

We cannot let down our guard now. In fact, it is more critical than ever that we avoid crowds, and parties and other gatherings, whether outdoors or indoors, whether commercial, ceremonial, or recreational; and that we wear our masks, watch our distance and wash our hands – to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our healthcare workers like Kayla Mitchell and everyone else.

Please have courage. Have patience. Have faith and stay safe.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.