The state’s daily report of first and second Covid-19 vaccine doses has been an important tool for assessing risk and targeting vaccine outreach. That count will become less accurate and perhaps less useful with the rollout of boosters.
The state knows some booster shots are being included in the state’s vaccination rate but not how many. And public health officials have it as first and second doses — not boosters — that must be prioritized and tracked to overcome the pandemic.
“One of the big concerns that I’ve had is that there hasn’t been
any real uptake in the vaccination since the end of June,” said Mindi
Messmer, co-founder of NH Science and Public Health, which has been
tracking the state’s vaccination program. The fully vaccinated rate was
54.7 percent on Oct. 26.
“If
the boosters are being incorporated into that number, those are the
people who have been fully vaccinated. It’s not the hesitant people.
There’s not going to be a clear understanding of how many people are
actually vaccinated. It skews our understanding.”
The
problem lies with those giving boosters, including pharmacies, because
they are reporting all third doses to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention but are not all reporting counts to the state, said state
epidemiologist Dr. Ben Chan. And unlike some states, including
Massachusetts, New Hampshire’s Covid-19 dashboard does not break out the
booster counts it does know about.
“We’re
having a little bit of difficulty nailing down exactly how many booster
doses have been administered in New Hampshire,” Chan said. “It’s
something we’re actively trying to work on.”
The CDC communications
office did not return a message. Its website tracks booster doses given
in the United States (9.32 million as of Friday), but does not report
that data at state, county or local levels.
Pfizer
boosters became available in mid-August for those over 65, people at
high risk and those working in settings with more exposure to the virus
who had received their second dose at least six months prior. More
boosters are coming.
The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Oct. 21 cleared booster
shots for the same population who received the Moderna vaccine. It did
the same with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Friday for anyone over
age 18 at least two months after their shot.
The CDC tracks boosters given in the U.S. but doesn’t report data at state, county or local levels.