SEND US YOUR PHOTOS: Share your seasonal Maine landscape photos with us and it might be featured in our newsletter. Send a high resolution image to wendy@themainemonitor.org 

NAVIGATING PAYWALLS: Several stories in each issue of The Daily Monitor will come from Maine news organizations that require a subscription to access their content. To avoid paywalls, we encourage readers to subscribe to Maine's daily news products: the Portland Press Herald, the Bangor Daily News, the Central Maine Newspapers, the Times Record and the Lewiston Sun Journal.

430,790 Cumulative vaccinations (An increase of 7,855 from Monday)

274,616 First doses administered (An increase of 4,193 from Monday)

156,174 Final doses administered (An increase of 3,662 from Monday)

46,059 Total cases (An increase of 133 from Monday)

723 Deaths (An increase of 17 from Monday)

133 New daily cases (An increase of 1 from Monday)

75 Currently in hospital (An increase of 8 from Monday)

Members of the NAACP’s Maine State Prison chapter are raising allegations of inadequate prison health care services. In a report that details the stories of anonymous residents, they allege that heart conditions, infections, diabetes and other serious conditions are being neglected or misdiagnosed by prison health care provider, Wellpath LLC.

The company’s contract is currently up for renewal, and the complaint comes on the heels of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of a man who died of an infection at the prison three years ago. READ MORE

Another 17 Mainers have died as health officials on Tuesday reported 133 more coronavirus cases across the state.

The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 2,323. This is an estimation of the current number of active cases in the state, as the Maine CDC is no longer tracking recoveries for all patients. That’s down from 2,332 on Monday.

An Androscoggin County resident, an Aroostook County resident, three Cumberland County residents, a Franklin County resident, two Kennebec County residents, two Oxford County residents, two Penobscot County residents, a Sagadahoc County resident and four York County residents have succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 723. READ MORE

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday a new, free option for Maine people who need a ride to and from a COVID-19 vaccination appointment.

Maine DHHS is partnering with ModivCare, one of the organizations that coordinates rides for MaineCare members, to provide rides for any Maine resident who is unable to drive, lacks reliable transportation or is otherwise unable to travel to their appointment.

ModivCare will in turn partner with Community Action Programs and transportation companies to provide rides. This new option is in addition to the transportation support that DHHS already offers for eligible MaineCare members who face challenges getting to their vaccine appointment. READ MORE

Federal use of the Cumberland County Jail to detain people suspected of immigration violations has sharply risen over the last five years.

Within months after the coronavirus pandemic forced emergency shutdowns in the state, the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, significantly increased the number of noncitizens it detained in the southern Maine facility. Many came from elsewhere in New England and held at the county jail before many were taken to jails in southern states.

In all, 156 people were arrested and detained at the southern Maine facility from June through December of 2020. That figure is more than double the total over the same period in 2019 and more than 4 times the 44 ICE detainees held at the facility over the entirety of 2016, according to data provided by Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce. READ MORE