With coronavirus cases rising statewide, Gov. Chris Sununu said New Hampshire health officials will resume a weekly COVID-19 update.
The latest news conference Wednesday flagged rising rates of new infections and hospitalizations.
Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state's epidemiologist, announced 11 new COVID-19 deaths. Four of those are from today, and seven were identified Tuesday. Six of the deaths were connected to long-term care facilities.
The state is seeing 500-550 new cases a day on average, with a testing positivity rate of 6 percent. There are 207 patients hospitalized with the virus, as of Wednesday.
Dr. Chan said state health officials are looking forward to being able to vaccinate children ages 5-11, once the CDC finalizes its approval.
Sununu says some vaccination appointments for children in that age group could be available as soon as next week.
New Hampshire's vaccination website now has a map of vaccination sites for children 5-11 at pharmacy and retail sites.
The shots will be available at community-based clinics at schools and some health centers as well, though that may take a few more weeks, due to delays in the Executive Council approving federal funding.
While there are over 500 providers of the vaccine across New Hampshire, so far, less than half have confirmed they will be offering the children's Pfizer vaccine.
The state also announced it’s relaunching its homebound vaccination program, now booster shots were recently approved for a greater swath of the population,
This time around, it’s through a contract with a private company, OnSite Medical Services, which has hired a team of nurses to administer the shots across the state.
Granite Staters looking for a homebound booster shot, or their first round of vaccinations, can call the company at 603-338-9292 or book an appointmentonline at the company's website.
With immunity starting to wane among some populations who received the shot over six months ago, the booster shot could protect some of the state’s older, and more vulnerable residents from a breakthrough case, health officials say.
