Governor says NH would be ready if COVID-19 vaccine ready as early as Nov. 1 – WMUR Manchester

Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday the state would be ready to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine if it's ready as soon as Nov. 1, but he personally thinks a vaccine won't be available until later.>> Download the FREE WMUR appThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has told public health officials around the country to prepare to distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine as early as late October, although most health experts believe a safe and effective vaccine would not be ready that soon.>> Latest coronavirus coverage from WMURSununu said he believes the advisory was made to ensure that states would be ready for a vaccine whenever it's ready. He said he believes it's more likely that a vaccine won't be ready until the end of the year or earlier next year at the earliest."If it comes early November, we will be ready," Sununu said. "I more anticipate it being some time around the Christmas time frame, early next year, something like that. We just don't know.">> COVID-19 in New Hampshire: Important informationThe governor said a lot of questions remain about how a vaccine would be distributed. There is no vaccine yet, and there's no indication how many doses would be immediately available. He said it's likely the vaccine would have to be prioritized to vulnerable populations."I think some of the bigger questions we're all waiting to see will be how much will be available, how fast," Sununu said. "We're already looking at assuming we might have to prioritize if they don't give us 1.35 million sets of the vaccine on day one."Health Commissioner Lori Shibinette said New Hampshire has been planning how to handle a vaccine since June. She said the state has undertaken other vaccination programs in the past, though nothing as large-scale as a COVID-19 vaccination effort would be.Shibinette said that once a vaccine is available, the state would likely distribute it to public clinics and directly to health care providers and long-term care facilities. She said a nursing home might be sent enough doses to vaccinate its own residents and staff members."I think it's probably going to take more than three months to get through that full process of who we're vaccinating first and getting the first phase done and getting to the second phase," she said. "It is not vaccinating 1.3 million people in 30 days. This is going to take multiple months to complete."The CDC advisory raised concerns that the Trump administration is trying to make an announcement about a vaccine before Election Day for political reasons. Sununu said he doesn't believe vaccine development is being politicized, and experts have noted that pandemic planning exercises have included recommendations that a distribution network be prepared while scientists work on a vaccine.** Town-by-town COVID-19 case data: Interactive map | Text-only list **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

Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday the state would be ready to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine if it's ready as soon as Nov. 1, but he personally thinks a vaccine won't be available until later.

>> Download the FREE WMUR app

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has told public health officials around the country to prepare to distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine as early as late October, although most health experts believe a safe and effective vaccine would not be ready that soon.

>> Latest coronavirus coverage from WMUR

Sununu said he believes the advisory was made to ensure that states would be ready for a vaccine whenever it's ready. He said he believes it's more likely that a vaccine won't be ready until the end of the year or earlier next year at the earliest.

"If it comes early November, we will be ready," Sununu said. "I more anticipate it being some time around the Christmas time frame, early next year, something like that. We just don't know."

>> COVID-19 in New Hampshire: Important information

The governor said a lot of questions remain about how a vaccine would be distributed. There is no vaccine yet, and there's no indication how many doses would be immediately available. He said it's likely the vaccine would have to be prioritized to vulnerable populations.

"I think some of the bigger questions we're all waiting to see will be how much will be available, how fast," Sununu said. "We're already looking at assuming we might have to prioritize if they don't give us 1.35 million sets of the vaccine on day one."

Health Commissioner Lori Shibinette said New Hampshire has been planning how to handle a vaccine since June. She said the state has undertaken other vaccination programs in the past, though nothing as large-scale as a COVID-19 vaccination effort would be.

Shibinette said that once a vaccine is available, the state would likely distribute it to public clinics and directly to health care providers and long-term care facilities. She said a nursing home might be sent enough doses to vaccinate its own residents and staff members.

"I think it's probably going to take more than three months to get through that full process of who we're vaccinating first and getting the first phase done and getting to the second phase," she said. "It is not vaccinating 1.3 million people in 30 days. This is going to take multiple months to complete."

The CDC advisory raised concerns that the Trump administration is trying to make an announcement about a vaccine before Election Day for political reasons. Sununu said he doesn't believe vaccine development is being politicized, and experts have noted that pandemic planning exercises have included recommendations that a distribution network be prepared while scientists work on a vaccine.

** Town-by-town COVID-19 case data: Interactive map | Text-only list **

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Governor says NH would be ready if COVID-19 vaccine ready as early as Nov. 1 - WMUR Manchester