Sen. Maggie Hassan, R-N.H., attends a groundbreaking ceremony for a $1.7 billion dry dock project at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021, in Kittery, Maine. King is recovering from COVID-19. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) questioned top administration officials today, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, on New Hampshire’s inaccurate vaccination data, the need for additional personnel and support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in New Hampshire, and how the administration is monitoring the effectiveness of COVID-19 treatments against the new variant.

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To watch Senator Hassan’s questioning, click ” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>here.

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New Hampshire’s Vaccination Data

During the hearing today, Senator Hassan pressed Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on New Hampshire’s inaccurate vaccination rate data.

“We’ve long had problems with accurate state vaccination data in New Hampshire,” Senator Hassan said. “It’s come to light that the CDC’s data on New Hampshire’s vaccination rates is also inaccurate. Apparently the CDC cannot consistently distinguish in its data between first doses of the vaccine and boosters. As a result, the agency incorrectly records boosters as first doses, artificially raising the vaccination rate.”

The Senator questioned Dr. Walensky on what steps the CDC is taking to resolve these inaccuracies.

“CDC is the compiler of the data and we rely on the state immunization services to provide CDC the data at the state level,” Dr. Walensky said. “Now among the challenges with these accuracies is that if people don’t bring in their [vaccine] card, they are counted as a first dose when in fact their card would have been a third dose, and we rely on the states to work to reconcile any differences…we are working state by state, including in New Hampshire, to reconcile these inaccuracies.”

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FEMA Teams to New Hampshire

Following Senator Hassan’s successful calls to send FEMA teams to New Hampshire, Senator Hassan raised with Dr. Fauci that in New Hampshire the FEMA teams that were deployed to the state were delayed in arriving and are scheduled to stay only for a short period of time.

Dr. Fauci discussed the surge teams administered by FEMA that have been deployed around the country. Senator Hassan also said she would continue to follow up with the administration about the support that New Hampshire needs.

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COVID-19 Treatments

In response to the surge in omicron cases in New Hampshire and across the country, the Senator questioned Dr. Fauci on COVID-19 treatments, specifically on how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is evaluating the treatments’ effectiveness against the latest variant and communicating those findings to doctors.

Dr. Fauci said that there are a number of National Institute of Health (NIH) sponsored studies that are ongoing to assess the effectiveness of the monoclonal antibodies treatments against the latest variant. Dr. Fauci also pointed to the NIH website that has information for doctors about the latest guidance for using COVID-19 treatments on hospitalized patients and outpatients.

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