First of all, I have the greatest respect for Dr. Nirav Shah. He came to Maine in 2019 at the outset of the Mills administration as Maine CDC director, rebuilding an agency demoralized by Mills’s predecessor through staffing cuts and neglect.

A year later, a “mysterious virus” he flagged for legislators became the coronavirus pandemic, the worst global health crisis since an influenza onslaught a century earlier. Shah stepped to the fore, hosting daily briefings, with Mills and DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew as his frequent “guests,” providing a reassuring presence that built an audience far beyond Maine.

In a dark time, Shah used science and perspective against fears and rumors the virus spawned, and from which we still suffer in our national discourse. Now, he’s mulling a run for gov

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