The other day on Maine Calling (a great show by the way) Dr. Nirav Shah, the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, was asked by the interviewer how it was that our state has done so much better than other states in keeping the impact of the COVID pandemic as low as we have.

Dr. Shah’s answer  was just OK. Mainers, he said, trust the science behind the steps we all took from masks and distancing to getting vaccine boosters. I said “OK” because the better answer really is because he has done such an amazing job informing us and explaining what and why we had to do all these things for the past two-plus years.

Having listened to many of his weekly reports with the press and Maine Calling, it was always clear that he really knew what he was talking about and when he didn’t, he told us so. My church followed his directives and we had only a few cases and only one hospitalization due to an out-of-state infection. The doctor has been honestly straight forward when called for and yet humble and patient with people who misunderstood or opposed the science he was standing behind.

In short, I believe that the wisdom of Mainers is due, in large part, to the wisdom and dedication of our CDC director to whom we all owe an incredible debt of thanks.

I know I will always be grateful that we have a guy like Dr. Nirav Shah watching out for our health in Maine.

The Rev Jim King
Portland