NH 'Safest COVID State,' Study Says

By Andrew Mahaleris, NH Journal

The CDC may have mishandled the J&J vaccine issue and Michigan may be on the verge of yet another lockdown, but when it comes to managing the coronavirus pandemic, New Hampshire is America’s number one.

A new study from the data analysts at Wallethub ranks the Granite State as the state getting the best results taking on COVID-19. The study uses five metrics to compare the 50 states and Washington, DC: Vaccination rate, hospitalization rate, positive test rate, transmission rate and death rate.

“New Hampshire is currently the safest state during COVID,” data analyst Jill Gonzalez told NHJournal. “The state has the highest vaccination rate in the country — over 65%, and one of the lowest death rates nationwide registered during the week of April 8.”

On Wednesday, the New York Times once again ranked New Hampshire as the top state in the country for ensuring access to the coronavirus vaccine. According to their tracker, New Hampshire has given more than 54 percent of Granite Staters at least one shot, with 23 percent of the population fully vaccinated.

New Hampshire also consistently ranks at or near the top of the list for quickly distributing the largest percentage of the vaccine doses received. As of April 14, the state had administered almost 97 percent of the vaccines received, well ahead of second-place North Dakota at 88 percent.

The news comes as Gov. Chris Sununu suggests he may lift the state’s mask mandate “wicked soon.”

However, state public health leaders continue to express concern as the number of cases and hospitalizations rise in the Granite State. The seven-day average of cases on March 15 was 250. On April 14, it was 435.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.