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Vaccination sites opening for first responders Tuesday

Holly Ramer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 10 months AGO
by Holly Ramer
| December 29, 2020 12:03 AM

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Vaccinations will begin Tuesday for New Hampshire’s first responders and high-risk health care providers who don’t work in hospitals.

The state is opening 13 vaccination clinics for first responders and ambulatory care workers, with the sites in the mostly densely populated locations operating five days a week and the others two or three days per week. Those who are eligible are being notified by their professional associations, licensing boards and other organizations, state officials said Monday.

“We are making great strides in deploying the COVID-19 vaccine to people working on the front lines and at highest risk of exposure,” said Lori Shibinette, commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Vaccinations for hospital workers and nursing home residents and staff already are underway. Along with the first responders and ambulatory care workers, vaccinations for the first group is expected to be completed by mid-January.

In other coronavirus developments:

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UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

The COVID-19 relief bill signed by President Donald Trump includes $120 billion for unemployment insurance, but about 21,000 people in New Hampshire will miss out on a week of benefits, state officials said.

The massive, year-end bill that Trump signed into law Sunday revives supplemental federal pandemic unemployment benefits but at $300 per week through March 14 instead of the $600 per week benefit that expired in July.

Richard Lavers, deputy commissioner for the state Department of Employment Security, told WMUR-TV that gig workers, those who are self-employed and others will miss out on a week of benefits. But they should file for last week, which was a payable week, he said.

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THE NUMBERS

More than 41,000 people have tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, with 861 cases announced Monday that included partial results from four days. Seven new deaths were announced, bringing the total to 715.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in New Hampshire has decreased over the past two weeks from 884 new cases per day on Dec. 13 to 610 new cases per day on Dec. 27.

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REPUBLICANS REVOLT

Two House lawmakers who have invoked a “right of revolution” over fellow Republican Gov. Chris Sununu’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic said Monday they will remain in the Legislature despite declaring the results of the November election void.

Reps. Raymond Howard, of Alton, and David Testerman, of Franklin, were among at least half a dozen GOP lawmakers who signed a new “Declaration of Independence” last week invoking a provision of the state’s Bill of Rights. It casts Sununu as a tyrant and declares unconstitutional both the state law that granted him emergency powers during the pandemic and the expansion of absentee voting for the recent election.

“I’m here to defend the Constitution and represent the people of my district,” said Howard. “Our Constitution is being torn to shreds, and this has got to end.”

About 100 people signed the declaration, but it’s unclear what effect, if any, their actions will have. Testerman said he intends to serve his term and “raise my issues as I go along.”

“We can’t keep passing unconstitutional laws and then acting as if we did something great,” he said.

Polls have shown Sununu enjoying bipartisan support for his handling of the pandemic, and he easily won reelection to a third term in November. Asked to comment on the group’s claims, he said the state’s elections were conducted “with the utmost integrity.”

“While some may not like the outcomes, our elections were fair, transparent, and accurate,” he said in a statement to The Associated Press.

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