Maine has reached another record high for COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 1,172 cases and 21 deaths reported since Thanksgiving. 

There are currently 330 people hospitalized with the virus in Maine. One hundred people are in critical care and 46 are on ventilators. The state has 46 critical care beds available — 33 for adults and 13 for children. 

Maine has now seen 119,662 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began and 1,324 total deaths. The people reported to have died since last Thursday include 12 men and nine women. Two were in their 40s, four in their 50s, three in their 60s, five in their 70s and seven over 80. 

Four each were from Cumberland and Androscoggin counties. Two each were from Sagadahoc, Kennebec, Washington and Penobscot counties, and one each from Franklin, York, Somerset, Knox and Lincoln counties. 

The state’s case rate stands at 894.1 per 10,000 people, with a 2.6% hospitalization rate. Androscoggin County has the highest case rate in the state, at 1,203.7. The hospitalization rate is highest in Piscataquis County, at 3.6%. 

Maine has now fully vaccinated 71.3% of its eligible population, administering more than 2.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in total. That includes 289,634 booster doses and 26,792 shots for kids ages 5 to 11. Just over 1,000 children in that age group, the last to be approved for the vaccine, have been fully vaccinated. 

Federal health officials are now recommending booster shots for all adults regardless of risk level, especially in light of concerns about the new omicron variant of the virus. State officials are expected to give an update on the new variant at their weekly press briefing Wednesday.