CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - By the end of next week, everyone ages 16 and older will be eligible to register for the COVID-19 vaccine in New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday.
The first group, ages 40-49, will be eligible to register on the state’s site - known as VINI - on Monday. The next group, ages 30-39, can register as of Wednesday, and the last group ages 16-29, can sign up next Friday. The vaccine has not yet been approved for children under 16.
“We feel fairly confident that everyone should be able to get their first shot by Memorial Day,” Sununu said.
Only the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for those ages 16-18, and sites will note that for that group.
The news comes as infections and the test positivity rate are on the rise. Sununu said he plans to renew the state’s mask mandate, which expires on Friday, for three more weeks.
“There is no one specific cause for these increases,” said Benjamin Chan, state epidemiologist. “The increasing infections are being seen across multiple, different age groups, primarily in people under the age of 60. … These increases are more pronounced in the younger age demographics, teenagers and people in their 20s.”
In other coronavirus developments in New Hampshire:
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SMALL BUSINESSES
A survey of over 1,500 small businesses in New Hampshire shows that many are still struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly half of them reducing their hours and one-third closing temporarily, according to the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
Seventy percent of respondents say their business has seen monthly revenue decreases as a result of the pandemic, although that has fallen from 83% from a prior survey in June. Residents cite a decline in sales, reduced hours of operation, being required to close, and supply chain interruptions as primary factors that caused their businesses to experience losses.
“The theme that were getting from this is that New Hampshire’s small businesses were hit very hard by COVID,” Andrew Smith, director of the survey center, said Thursday at a meeting of the Governor’s Economic Re-opening Task Force. “Many of them have learned to adapt, but they certainly have not gotten back to the point where they were prior to COVID.”
Three-quarters of respondents say their business applied for financial relief in 2020 and just over half plan to apply for relief this year, with the Payroll Protection Program the most commonly used program.
Businesses completed the survey between Feb. 1 and Feb. 22.
Smith said a separate survey of New Hampshire residents show numbers are under 50% for those who say they feel comfortable going to a bar, gym, movie theater, stadium, and large concert.
He said many people said they are not going to change their behavior by Memorial Day.
“There’s going to be a considerable need for behavioral change and thought change in the minds of a lot of people in the state before they go out and do things,” Smith said.
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THE NUMBERS
Nearly 82,000 people have tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, including 418 cases announced Thursday. One new death was announced, bringing the total to 1,229.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in New Hampshire has risen over the past two weeks from 210 on March 9 to 308 on Tuesday.
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