Coronavirus

Vaccine Registration for NH Residents 65 and Older Begins Friday

Officials said coronavirus cases have decreased slightly over the past week

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu addresses a gathering outside the Elliot Hospital, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Charles Krupa/AP

Gov. Chris Sununu provided an update Thursday on the start of the vaccination process for New Hampshire residents age 65 and up.

"Tomorrow is a very big day," he said of the next phase of the vaccine rollout.

At 8 a.m. Friday, he said the state will begin accepting vaccination appointments for individuals who fall under "Phase 1b." That includes residents age 65 and older, those with certain medical conditions, residents and staff of facilities for people with developmental disabilities, corrections officers and health care workers not previously vaccinated. There are an estimated 300,000 New Hampshire residents in this next phase.

Residents age 65 and older should register to be vaccinated at one of the state’s fixed site clinics by visiting https://vaccines.nh.gov or by calling 2-1-1. There are different processes for those with medical conditions, according to a health alert message issued Sunday.

The first actual appointments will be on Tuesday, Jan. 26, Sununu said.

N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu lowered the minimum age for receiving a vaccine from 75 to 65, a change that will take effect later this week.

Providers who plan to vaccinate their own patients will register and schedule eligible patients and report data to the state’s immunization information system.

Those that do not have access to the vaccine or plan to refer patients to fixed sites will enter patient information into the state’s vaccine management system, which will generate an email invitation to the patient to schedule an appointment.

For providers who don’t have access to the system or for patients that do not have email, the provider will pass along information to the state about eligible patients, and the state will call them to schedule appointments.

Overall, more than 70,000 residents have received first doses of the vaccine. About 10,000 have already received their second dose.

About 60,000 people in the state have now tested positive for the virus, including 925 confirmed cases announced Thursday. Twelve new deaths were announced, with the total standing at 962.

There are currently 241 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in New Hampshire, which is down from last week.

Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist, said the number of active infections has dropped from 6,700 to about 6,200 over the past week, and the 7-day average positivity rate is also treding down.

"While there are some promising trends in terms of the numbers coming down, the overall levels of community transmission continue to be very high," he said. "We'll see if this trend continues."

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