Tag: COVID

COVID-19 Vaccine Access

Posted on by Galbraith Family Medicine

We are proud of the work we did during the COVID-19 pandemic to reach out to our entire adult patient population to ensure that they were aware of the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19. We were able to provide over 100 doses of vaccine ourselves and connect many patients to resources to get successfully vaccinated elsewhere. We no longer carry COVID-19 vaccine, but if you have not yet been vaccinated or boosted and desire to do so, we want our patients to know about where to sign up to get the vaccine. All of the listed sites are offering the newest version that was released in the fall of 2024. Children aged 6 months–4 years may need multiple doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be up to date, depending on the number of doses they’ve previously received and their age, and sites vary on what they have available for the pediatric population.

The best resource is the Maine CDC website at http://www.maine.gov/covid19/vaccines/vaccination-sites.

As of January 14, 2025, the most local options are:

COVID-19 Prescription Treatment Access

According to the Maine CDC website, COVID-19 treatment is highly effective at preventing a mild or moderate illness from progressing to becoming severe and life-threatening. Treatment is available for unvaccinated individuals, adults age 50 and older and for other people at high risk of getting very sick from COVID-19, such as those who are immunocompromised, have chronic lung or kidney disease, have diabetes, or who smoke (For full list, see https://www.cdc.gov/covid/risk-factors/?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html ). It does not replace vaccination.

COVID-19 treatment works best if started within the first 5–7 days after symptoms begin. Treatment is only available for people with COVID-19 symptoms and a positive COVID-19 test, which can include an at-home test. A doctor needs to determine if you are eligible for treatment, and while Drs. David and Kathryn are qualified to prescribe medication, testing cannot be done at our facility, some of the medications require additional lab testing or pharmacy oversight that we cannot provide, and we cannot guarantee that you will be able to get a prescribed medication filled as the number of pharmacies who carry the medications are limited. We highly recommend going to a state designated “Test-to-Treat” location where anyone can go to get tested, be seen by a medical provider, and get treated, with access to medication guaranteed, if deemed appropriate. Some sites offer telehealth options so consider calling ahead.

Visit https://www.maine.gov/covid19/treatment/where-to-get-treated or https://covid-19-test-to-treat-locator-dhhs.hub.arcgis.com or call 1-800-232-0233 to find a provider nearest you and to contact that location for more information before going. As of January 14, 2025, the closest area Test-to-Treat locations are:

  • Northern Light Mercy Hospital in Gorham at 535-1400 or Windham at 400-8618
  • Convenient MD Urgent Care in Saco at 751-7991
  • Convenient MD Urgent Care in Sanford at 850-5744
  • York Hospital Walk-in campus in York at 363-4321

In addition, telehealth treatment services may be available through ConvenientMD (https://convenientmd.com/virtual-care/), CVS Pharmacies (https://www.cvs.com/content/coronavirus?icid=coronavirus-lp-treatment-services#services), Northern Light Health (https://northernlighthealth.org/Resources/COVID-19/Get-Treatment), York Hospital Walk-in Care (https://www.yorkhospital.com/telemedicine/) and some Walgreen’s Pharmacies https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/covid19/testing). Certain Walgreen’s Pharmacies and Walmart Pharmacies also have pharmacists who are prescribing treatment directly; call or visit the websites for store locations.