Sununu: First Covid vaccines could arrive in state in two weeks

CONCORD — The first COVID-19 vaccinations should arrive in New Hampshire the third week of December and health care workers and those in long-term care facilities will be the first to get the injections, Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is poised to consider a vaccine from the drugmaker, Pfizer, on Dec. 10. Britain has authorized that vaccine and could be dispensing shots within days.

A vaccine from another drug company, Moderna, should arrive in the state in the fourth week of this month.

“You could be seeing anywhere from 10,000 and 40,000 doses of the vaccine here in New Hampshire just within the next few weeks,” Sununu said at his weekly news conference. “This is really great news.”

CVS and Walgreens will participate in the vaccination program and eventually the National Guard will assist with the vaccinations.

Vaccinations are eagerly anticipated as numbers of positive COVID-19 tests have spiked statewide and the largest outbreak in the state is now occurring at the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton, where 15 residents have died.

That outbreak has contributed to Belknap County currently having the highest case rate per population in the state, including 353 new cases over the last 14 days.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan reported Thursday 625 new positive test results for COVID-19 statewide, 156 people currently hospitalized and seven new deaths, bringing the total statewide death toll to 544.

He noted that the virus is much more dangerous than the seasonal flu, which typically claims 40 to 50 people a year.

He also announced a reduction in the required quarantine period for those potentially exposed to the disease to 10 days, the same number of days one has to isolate after testing positive for the virus. Previously the quarantine period was 14 days.

Sununu urged people to observe social distancing and mask requirements.

“If you’re going to be stubborn and not manage this, individuals are going to be infected,” he said.

He said New Hampshire is the Live Free or Die state, but people still have a responsibility to protect family and community.

“When we put on a mask and social distance, it’s for others, not for ourselves,” he said.

Sununu said he had hoped the politicization of pandemic precautions would ease after the presidential election.

“I’m surprised the political acrimony hasn't dissipated faster. Folks who want to politicize this, that’s shameful, that’s on them.”