New Hampshire's state-run vaccination sites permanently close
All 11 state-managed COVID-19 vaccination sites closed for good at 7 p.m. Thursday
All 11 state-managed COVID-19 vaccination sites closed for good at 7 p.m. Thursday
All 11 state-managed COVID-19 vaccination sites closed for good at 7 p.m. Thursday
Thursday was the final day for Granite Staters to get a COVID-19 vaccine at a state-run vaccination site.
All 11 sites permanently closed at 7 p.m. The sites were located in Ashland, Berlin, Claremont, Concord, Keene, Laconia, Manchester, Nashua, Rochester, Salem and Stratham.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services said demand for vaccines has significantly declined since the start of the year, so there is no need to keep the state-managed sites operating. They were opened during the winter surge in December and January. Since then, New Hampshire has seen a significant decline in COVID-19 cases.
On Tuesday, DHHS reported 1,039 active cases across New Hampshire. That's compared to more than 9,300 active cases reported on Dec. 29. State health officials said 70.7% of eligible Granite Staters have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while 61.3% of eligible Granite Staters are fully vaccinated.
Officials said the effort was a success with more than 20,000 vaccines administered since December.
Dr. Tom Inglesby, senior adviser for the White House COVID response team, said that case numbers in the U.S. are much better, but other countries are seeing cases tick back up.
"We're in a much better place, as the president said," Inglesby said. "We're moving much closer towards our normal routines and lives, but we have to be ready for what comes and sustain the progress that we've made."
New Hampshire health officials said they will be able to offer more vaccination options again if the situation warrants.
"We're certainly standing by the ready, watching that data, and we will be ready to act if we see that those cases begin to go up again," said Patricia Tilley, director of the state Division of Public Health Services.
Four of the state's seven mobile vaccination teams stop operating after Thursday. You can still request a mobile vaccination clinic or see where the teams will be over the next week by heading to vaccines.nh.gov.
You will still be able to get a vaccine at your local hospital, pharmacy or urgent care center. You can find places offering the shots by heading to the new federal website COVID.gov. The website provides data on vaccines, tests, treatments and masks. It is available in English, Spanish and simplified Chinese.
** Town-by-town: COVID-19 case data | Vaccination data **
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