Vaxxers, start your engines

LOUDON — It was still 2020 when the New Hampshire Motor Speedway began discussions with the state to host a mass vaccination event. This weekend, with a bumper crop of vaccines arriving courtesy of Johnson & Johnson, the motorsports venue will host its first such event.

The vaccination event will take place Saturday through Monday, March 6-8, and will be by appointment only. The state is reaching out to people who already qualify for Phase 1B but who haven’t yet received a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine due to shortages, and will offer them the chance to move up to a time slot.

Unlike the two previously available vaccine courses, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one dose. The state hopes to administer more than 10,000 doses – good enough to inoculate about 1% of the state’s population – at the event. It will constitute the largest single vaccination event yet in New Hampshire.

Those with appointments are asked to arrive no sooner than 15 minutes prior to their scheduled time. State officials and volunteers will direct them to the infield of the speedway, where they will be given their shot, and then they will be asked to wait for a short time afterward for observation in case of side effects. Vaccine recipients will be able to stay in their vehicle the entire time.

Dave McGrath, general manager of NHMS, said his speedway has had a positive and productive relationship with state government “since we opened the gates,” and he sees this event as a continuation. He also sees it as falling in line with the priorities of Speedway Motorsports, which owns NHMS as well as race venues in several other states.

“This is a North Star of our business model. We want to give back to the communities we serve, where we live and work,” said McGrath. “If you’re mass vaccinating, you’re getting more Granite Staters vaccinated, at the end of the day, all the economies of the state will benefit… The more folks that we can get vaccinated, the sooner we can all get back to what we consider normal life.”

McGrath said he would be happy to offer the venue for subsequent events, should the state again come into possession of bulk quantities of vaccine. The speedway is centrally located and easy to access for a bulk of the state’s residents, and it already has signage, traffic cones and other materials necessary to orchestrate the movement of hundreds of thousands of people. Current estimates suggest that NHMS vaccination events could handle around 4,000 people per day, though McGrath said that figure might be adjusted after this weekend’s event.

By the end of this weekend, Speedway Motorsports venues across the country will have helped to vaccinate 100,000 Americans, McGrath noted.

“We are always more than willing to utilize our facilities to support a need in the community,” said Marcus Smith, president and chief executive officer of Speedway Motorsports. “Hosting mass vaccination clinics at our venues is crucial in the race to beat this pandemic, and this weekend, thousands of New Hampshire residents will cross that finish line.”