Governor Sununu says about the COVID Vaccine, “This is going to be over likely sooner than we anticipated. . .Hopefully, we can be out of this by this spring. I’m looking forward to Memorial Day.”
In an interview with WKXL’s Chris Ryan, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu discusses his decision to impose a mask mandate, lays out how the Coronavirus vaccinations will be distributed and predicts how soon we can return to normal, presents recommendations for family gatherings for Thanksgiving, and addresses the issue of homelessness in Manchester, NH.
Citing data markers which support his decision, Governor Sununu explained why he decided to mandate that all Granite Staters over the age of five will be required to wear masks or cloth coverings in public, indoors or outdoors where they are unable to maintain a social distance of six feet from people outside of their own households. There has been marked increase in the state’s positivity rate, the percentage of all Coronavirus tests performed that show that someone has COVID-19. In addition, every county has had substantial community transmission, which is when there is no clear source of origin of an infection in a new community; 80% of New Hampshire’s towns now have active COVID cases which is up from 50% two weeks ago; and hospitalizations have increased from 40 to 100 during that period. The Governor sees wearing masks as a way of slowing down the spread of the disease without using the more drastic measures of shutting down the economy and to avoid taxing our healthcare system.
Governor Sununu explains the Coronavirus vaccinations, when they become available, will be distributed in phases. Healthcare and frontline workers and the vulnerable, such as the elderly and people at risk make up the first group of about 80-100 thousand individuals which will be vaccinated. The second phase are about 300 thousand individuals who are at risk but do not live or work with large groups of people, a congregate setting. The third phase would be about 600 thousand individuals who are under 60 with no underlying health conditions. The Governor believes that New Hampshire will be able to vaccinate between 25-50 thousand individuals by the end of December. It isn’t certain how much will be available after that first delivery, but Governor Sununu is optimistic due to the number of companies producing vaccines and the effectiveness of the vaccines—90-95%. Based on conversations with Dr. Fauci and other experts, the Governor is hopeful that we can return to normal by Memorial Day.
In other parts of the country, governors have given edicts with strict limits on the size and nature of family gatherings. Governor Sununu has given strong common-sense recommendations to the citizens of his state to look out for the welfare and health of older or vulnerable family members.
In the final segment of the interview, Governor Sununu discusses what the homeless encampment near the courthouse in Manchester. Attempts by the state government have been made to find shelter for the individuals, and the Governor plans to revamp his Homelessness Plan.
