A beer sample is passed during at the first Skowhegan Craft Brew Festival on Water Street in downtown Skowhegan on Sept. 3, 2016. Redington-Fairview General Hospital is planning a COVID vaccination clinic in conjunction with this year’s festival. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel file
SKOWHEGAN — Fresh off a COVID vaccine clinic at the Skowhegan State Fair, Redington-Fairview General Hospital has announced plans for another one during the upcoming Skowhegan Craft Brew Festival.
Lisa Caswell, director of the pharmacy at Redington-Fairview, said Tuesday that the hospital will be setting up a pop-up vaccination clinic outside of the front entrance to the event. The festival runs Sept. 4 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
“(This) places us there 30 minutes before the gate opens to VIP ticket holders until 30 minutes after it opens to general admission,” Caswell said.
The announcement of the clinic comes as the state sees a surge in cases of COVID-19 as the more contagious delta variant of the virus continues to spread.
The clinic will be set up in the Skowhegan Municipal Parking Lot just off Commercial Street, and will be open to all, Caswell added, not just those attending Craft Brew Fest. Both the single-shot Johnson & Johnson and the Moderna vaccines will be offered.
The Skowhegan Craft Brew Festival marks the unofficial close of summer in central Maine and is held annually during Labor Day Weekend in downtown Skowhegan. Local beer, brewers and food will be offered during the ticketed event.
Different types of tickets are available for the Sept. 4 festival. Though the VIP tickets have sold out, general admission and other passes are available on the event’s website.
Last week, Redington-Fairview General Hospital’s EMS Department held four different vaccination clinics during the Skowhegan State Fair. In total, 24 people were vaccinated at the fair clinic.
Through the hospital’s pharmacy department, walk-in clinics are also offered at Redington-Fairview from 3:30 to 5 p.m. every Thursday. Those who are at least 18 years old can show up without an appointment and choose between the two-dose Moderna vaccine or the one-shot option from J&J.
State health officials reported 363 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday over a three-day period. Somerset County has been deemed an area with “high” levels of transmission based on the latest data. Somerset remains the lowest vaccinated county in the state, at just over 56% of the total population vaccinated; statewide, that number is 62.1%.
To date, there have been 2,490 cases of COVID-19 in Somerset County as well as 91 hospitalizations and 35 deaths.
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