The state immunized more than 10,000 people at this weekend’s mass vaccination site at the Motor Speedway in Loudon, propelling New Hampshire ahead in its race to herd immunity.
At the state’s third mass vaccination clinic, thousands of people, including Gov. Chris Sununu, waited in line for a shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Earlier this week, the state opened three more sites to administer this one-dose vaccine.
As of Friday, New Hampshire had fully vaccinated about 272,000 people, about 20% of the population, making it one of the most efficient states at administering the doses. The Granite State has used more than 90% of its allocated doses, about 12% more than the national average. These numbers will likely improve, as this weekend’s vaccinations are taken into account.
If vaccinations continue at the current rate, some projections estimate 85% of the population will be fully immunized by July 30. Sununu announced this Thursday that vaccination appointments will open to non-residents on April 19, after universities and town officials complained that out-of-state college students wouldn’t be eligible for the shots. Currently, all residents 16 and older are eligible for the vaccine.
Though the number of vaccinated residents is rapidly rising, the pandemic is not over yet. Cases in the state and across the country have been rising at an alarming rate. As of Friday, New Hampshire averaged 471 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 a day, a staggering number that has only been seen during the state’s second wave in late November.
Michael Calderwood, an infectious disease expert and chief quality officer at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, said the state isn’t free from COVID concerns yet. If the rate of vaccinations and new infections continue as they have been, he said it seems likely the state is heading towards another surge.
“We can win this fight,” he said. “But we are not ready to say we have won today.”
The race between vaccines and the virus grows closer every day as more contagious variants of COVID-19 proliferate across the country. One study published in Nature found that the B.1.1.7 variant, commonly known as the UK variant, is between 43 to 90 times more transmissible than the older variants. Several studies have also documented that the UK variant is far more deadly.
Of the 1,900 samples that have been sequenced in New Hampshire, only about 100 have been identified as the UK variant, said Ben Chan, New Hampshire’s state epidemiologist. Still, public health experts expect it to become the most common version of the virus within weeks.
The CDC recommends wearing masks and social distancing in public even for those who are fully vaccinated, as they may be able spread the virus to others. Sununu has promised that as more people get the COVID-19 vaccine, Granite Staters should plan for a more normal summer.