Granite Staters will be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine without an appointment starting next week.
Beginning Monday, certain state vaccination states, including those in Concord, Dover and Nashua, will reserve about 50 doses a day to walk-in vaccine appointments, Gov. Chris Sununu announced at a press conference Thursday.
Sununu said this change was made partly to minimize the amount of doses that are wasted in New Hampshire and partly to remove any barriers to getting vaccines to as many residents as possible.
“When the thought strikes them that it’s time to get that vaccine they can walk right in,” he said.
The fixed sites will have Pfizer vaccines on hand to ensure that those aged 12 to 18 can still participate in walk-in appointments. Second dose appointments will be scheduled during the first dose appointment.
Sununu also addressed a N.H Supreme Court ruling from earlier this week that said patients in a mental health crisis can no longer be involuntarily committed in emergency rooms without being offered a probable cause hearing within three days of their confinement.
“Instead of dismissing or fighting the ruling, we are absolutely embracing it as an opportunity,” he said. “It is an opportunity to break barriers that we’ve been trying to break down for years.”
He said he will sign an executive order that will create emergency administrative rules to make services more available to those in mental health crisis, evaluate all of the current mental health services and consider contracting additional mental health providers. He said more beds at New Hampshire Hospital will open in a matter of days.
“Bringing in a child and seeing them sit in numbers for days and days without service for one reason or another is just unacceptable,” he said.