November 17, 2021
Representative Karen Umberger, Chair
Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee
Legislative Office Building, Room 210-211
33 N. State Street
Concord, NH 03301
RE: Approval of $22.5 million in federal funding for New Hampshire’s COVID-19 Immunizations
Dear Representative Umberger and Honorable Members of the Committee:
As a coalition of nearly 30 health care providers and advocacy organizations, representing hundreds of thousands of Granite Staters, we respectfully request that you vote to accept the $22.5 million in federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding to strengthen New Hampshire’s COVID-19 vaccine program. With the COVID pandemic ongoing, this funding is critical to providing our health care workers the resources they need to administer voluntary vaccines to those that want them, and to bring this public health crisis to an end.
As we write this letter, New Hampshire is averaging more than 800 new COVID cases each day, nearly one-third of which are among children. More than 6,300 Granite Staters have active COVID, and 294 people are currently hospitalized with the virus which is pushing our ICUs to the limit and delaying needed surgeries and other procedures. We have buried 1,639 of our friends and neighbors due to this disease, and we are losing more every day, despite the availability of vaccines that have been shown to drastically reduce serious illness and death.
To put it simply, New Hampshire’s COVID-19 data points are all trending in the wrong direction, and we need your help to stem the tide.
The $22.5 million in CDC funding up for consideration will go far to help health care providers deliver the vaccines to individuals and families that want them. These funds will provide critical supplies, technical assistance, and increased staffing capacity to help our health care providers increase access to services, reduce wait times and meet Granite Staters’ health care needs more quickly and efficiently. They will give our providers the resources they need to get the vaccine to children and families that want them, and to deliver booster shots to others in need. In short, this funding will save lives.
We ask that you accept these funds without delay, and help New Hampshire finally overcome the COVID19 pandemic.
