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According to InDepthNH, Chris Sununu’s administration is refusing to answer questions about why New Hampshire’s vaccination rate has decreased twice in the past two weeks on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard. The Sununu administration’s complete lack of transparency and failure to explain the state’s dropping vaccination rates comes as the Delta variant is surging in New Hampshire. When InDepthNH asked Sununu’s spokesperson to explain the multiple drops in the state’s vaccination rates, the official refused to answer the question and instead attacked critics for pointing out the discrepancies and inaccuracies in the state’s reported vaccination data. Additionally, Health and Human Services spokesman Laura Montenegro refused to respond to InDepthNH’s question about breakthrough cases. “Granite Staters deserve to know what Chris Sununu is doing to increase vaccination rates and why our vaccination rates are decreasing, but Sununu and his administration refuse to answer these basic questions,” said NHDP Chair Ray Buckley. “With Delta cases rising and New Hampshire’s vaccination rate lagging behind the rest of New England, Chris Sununu has a lot of explaining to do and he owes Granite Staters answers now.” InDepthNH: COVID-19 Cases Continue To Rise, Delta Variant Skyrocketing But making sense of the overall numbers is difficult as the state Democratic Party and several news outlets have pointed to discrepancies on the state Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 website.” The state Democratic Party headlined a news release Monday saying Gov. Chris Sununu’s vaccination rollout was under fire for misreporting vaccination data, discrepancies with the COVID-19 dashboard and an increase in racial disparities. Asked to clarify the numbers, Gov. Chris Sununu’s spokesman Ben Vihstadt provided no specifics and criticized the critics. [...] The lack of clarity comes at a time when the highly transmissible Delta variant is skyrocketing in the state. On Monday, the state’s dashboard reported a total of 93 Delta variants. Three weeks ago, there were only 2 reports of the Delta variant which is being blamed nationwide for much of the recent spike in cases. On Monday, Health and Human Services spokesman Laura Montenegro did respond to questions about breakthrough cases.
BACKGROUND:
WMUR: COVID-19 cases in New Hampshire reach highest total since mid-May
NH Bulletin: Democrats Say Governor, Administration Not Doing Enough to Support Vaccination Effort