Every Granite Stater older than 16 will be able to sign up for a vaccination appointment by the end of next week, Gov. Chris Sununu announced at a press conference Thursday.
Sununu said he anticipates everyone in this group will be able to get their first shot by Memorial Day. Sign-ups will open to those between 40 and 49 years old on Monday, March 29, to those between 30 and 39 on the subsequent Wednesday, March 31 and everyone else on Friday, April 2. Vaccines are not yet approved by the FDA for those younger than 16.
Residents will be able to register for the vaccine using the state’s new registration system, VINI. A step by step tutorial for operating the program can be found on Youtube. New Hampshire used this program to sign up Phase 2b on Monday, which included all Granite Staters older than 50. Several people reported technical difficulties and delays.
Sununu said the state has stress tested VINI to ensure it is prepared for high traffic and there is no reason to believe the website will crash.
“Could it be slow? Yes,” he said.
The governor said eligible residents don’t need to rush to the website immediately when the portal opens, as there are thousands of open appointment slots. State health officials are anticipating a spike in vaccines allocated to New Hampshire next week, from about 35,000 to about 45,000.
Meanwhile, new cases of COVID-19 are slowly in the rise in the state and many other parts of the country. Ben Chan, the state epidemiologist, said he fears some people have viewed relaxed safety precautions as an opportunity to flout social-distancing and mask-wearing altogether.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if case numbers don’t go down for a couple of weeks,” Sununu said.