Nurse practitioner Patricia Hutchins peers out of the St. Mary’s Hospital COVID-19 testing tent located in the parking lot of the hospital in Lewiston on April 7, 2020. Andree Kehn

AUGUSTA — Now that more vaccines arriving may mean the beginning of the end of the pandemic, the head of the Maine Center for Disease Control praised Maine residents for helping keep the state one of the safest in the nation.

Throughout the past year, Maine has had among the best statistics nationwide in terms of number of deaths, cases, hospitalizations, rates of COVID infection. No matter the metric, “Maine is at the top of whatever table you’re looking at,” Dr. Nirav Shah said.

When he talks to people in other states, Shah hears the same question: Why is Maine doing so well?

“I have an answer that boils down to one number; 1.34 million,” he said. That is Maine’s population and the number of people “who have taken the time to understand what’s going on with COVID, taken steps to keep themselves and their families safe.”

Maine’s population is the most critical number of all in how Maine fared better than other states, he said.

“I’d like to thank everyone in Maine for sticking with us, listening to the science underlying the decisions we make, believing in that science, and taking those steps to keep your families safe.”

Maine isn’t out of the woods yet, Shah said. “But we are making progress. With your help we will get there sooner than later.”