Data shows efforts lagging well behind targets set in original plan

A vaccine clinic in Nashua. (Photo by Casey McDermott/NH Public Radio)

NH PUBLIC RADIO

New Hampshire is falling short of its goal of using 10% of its Covid-19 vaccine doses to reach vulnerable populations, but officials say they’re taking some steps to close the gap.

As outlined in New Hampshire’s statewide Covid-19 vaccine plan, the state said it would “allocate 10% of the available state vaccine supply to geographic areas that are highly vulnerable to Covid-19.” The goal was to reach a range of marginalized populations: racial and ethnic minorities, people experiencing homelessness and those with “other access barriers that prevent someone from being vaccinated through routine state mechanisms.”

According to data provided to NH Public Radio through a right-to-know request, just under 22,000 doses were set aside for this purpose between February and early April. If New Hampshire were keeping pace with its original vaccine equity goal, about four times as many doses would have been set aside, according to calculations by NHPR.

Initially, state health leaders said they weren’t planning to significantly adjust their strategy to bridge that gap.

“It doesn’t really require any type of change of strategy,” New Hampshire Bureau of Infectious Disease Control Chief Dr. Beth Daly said at an April 22 press conference. “We’ve realized this is going to be our hardest populations to meet, which is why we’ve dedicated resources to this work.”

On April 23, however, state health officials clarified via email that they have launched new efforts designed to get more of the vaccine into at-risk communities.

Their plans include adding more clinics at food distribution sites, churches, homeless shelters and companies that employ predominantly low-wage, frontline workers or people of color.

Partnering with community groups

State data shows persistent racial disparities in New Hampshire’s vaccine rollout and the impact of the pandemic.

Black and Latino residents in New Hampshire have faced higher rates of Covid-19 infection and death, but they have been vaccinated at roughly half the rate of white residents, according to state data.

State health officials have placed most of the responsibility for running equityfocused clinics on New Hampshire’s 13 regional public health networks. Public health officials in each region have partnered with community groups to organize clinics focused on reaching a range of people at heightened risk for the coronavirus or who would otherwise face barriers to the vaccine.

As of April 22, Daly said about 280 of those equity-focused clinics had been scheduled, with plans to reach about 26,000 people.

“Yes, this is less than the 10% that we have set aside and have wanted them to vaccinate,” Daly said. “However, we have always understood that these populations are going to be harder to reach.”

Equity-focused clinics are often much smaller than those run by the state, Daly said. They might be held at a soup kitchen or shelter, for example, instead of a mall or motor speedway. These clinics are harder to set up than the other fixed vaccine sites, she said, and often reach fewer people at a time.

And Daly said the doses set aside for equity clinics aren’t going to waste, even if they aren’t being used for their original purpose.

“When they aren’t using the full vaccine each week, we’ll go ahead and make sure that vaccine gets used in other settings,” Daly said. “But we still make that vaccine available to them in future weeks — if, for example, they did have a big opportunity to do a low-income housing unit or something really large.”

English proficiency

The focus of the clinics varies from region to region.

In the Greater Nashua region, about three-quarters of equity doses have been set aside for racial or ethnic minorities, with the remaining doses focused on people experiencing homelessness, lowincome residents and other at-risk populations. In the North Country, more than half of the region’s equity doses have been targeted to homebound residents or people with transportation barriers.

Alice Ely, executive director of the Public Health Council of the Upper Valley, said her organization recently partnered with local groups serving low-income residents to vaccinate about 65 people at a downtown Lebanon clinic. They’re also working on an upcoming clinic focused on people with limited English proficiency.

“It’s really designed to make it easier for folks who are concerned about their language skills to come and get a vaccine,” she said.

These clinics are often small, Ely said, but they’re “exactly what we need” — especially as the state broadens vaccine access to the general population. And the Public Health Council of the Upper Valley, too, is trying to make sure no doses are being wasted: After one recent clinic, they brought leftover doses to a nearby restaurant and offered the shots to staff.

This article is being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.