WEST LEBANON — New Hampshire fixed sites offering COVID-19 vaccines have begun offering them on a walk-in basis with no appointment necessary, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
The state’s 11 fixed sites include two in the Upper Valley, in the former JCPenney building on Route 12A in West Lebanon and the former Dollar Store in the Shaw’s plaza on John Stark Highway in Newport.
They are now offering the shots to people 12 and older without appointments daily from 3 to 6 p.m., according to a Monday post on the department’s Facebook page. Those under 18 must have the consent of a parent or guardian in order to get a shot.
More information about vaccination in New Hampshire is available online at https://www.vaccines.nh.gov/ or by calling 211 or 866-444-4211.
UNITY — Five more residents of Sullivan County nursing home have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week, bringing the ongoing outbreak there to a total of 23 cases, according to the facility’s administrator.
Most of the new cases, which are all on the MacConnell unit, are asymptomatic, Ted Purdy, the Unity facility’s administrator, said in a message on Tuesday to friends and family of nursing home residents.
The outbreak so far includes 18 residents and five workers, who have all returned to work, Purdy wrote.
Though social visits have been curtailed during the outbreak, Purdy encouraged loved ones to continue with compassionate visits such as those for residents whose health has sharply declined or who are experiencing a significant change in circumstances.
The current outbreak, the facility’s second, began late last month when one fully vaccinated resident and one worker on the MacConnell unit tested positive.
Vaccine breakthrough cases are expected as no vaccine is 100% effective at preventing illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is some evidence that vaccination may make the illness less severe.
The facility needs to go for two weeks without any new cases before it can be removed from outbreak status and social visits can resume.
Five residents died after testing positive for COVID-19 during the outbreak at the facility this winter.
A total of 25 people in Sullivan County have died after testing positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
