NH Students' Letter To Gov. Sununu

April 5, 2021
Governor Chris Sununu

Office of the Governor, State House
107 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301
Governor Sununu,
We write to you today as the elected student leaders at colleges and universities
across this great state of New Hampshire. We also write as residents of communities
across New Hampshire who depend on your leadership for our safety and well-being.
We were excited to hear that all adult New Hampshire residents would be eligible to
receive the COVID-19 vaccine as of April 2, 2021. This is an amazing step in our progress
toward defeating this pernicious threat. We were deeply disappointed to hear, however,
that many of our colleagues and friends would be haphazardly excluded from this
critical expansion because they are not technically residents of the state.
Thousands of students from states across the nation attend school in New
Hampshire and are a vital component of the State’s ecosystem. These students interact
with New Hampshire-resident professors, receive mail to their New Hampshire
addresses, and drink their morning coffee while walking down New Hampshire streets.
Excluding them from New Hampshire vaccination programs does not only put the lives
of these valued Granite Staters at risk: it puts the lives of the community members they
have contact with every single day in danger. Over 32% of New Hampshire residents live
in college towns and this policy increases the risk for each and every one of them. Fellow
New England states have already agreed to vaccinate New Hampshire students
attending their colleges and universities. Further, you’ve often stated that you cannot
provide doses for college students because the federal government provides doses only
for residents. The CDC has stated that they provide doses based on census data for
which out-of-state residents students are counted. As a result, doses for students have
already been allocated and do not take away from those needed for New Hampshire
residents. If New Hampshire hopes to continue being a leader in COVID-19 response, it
should prioritize vaccinating all those who live in New Hampshire, not excluding a select
few because they have not picked up a new drivers’ license.
In recent remarks, you said that residents of Colorado should “go to Colorado and
get the vaccine for Colorado” before, presumably, flying back to New Hampshire to
continue their studies. CDC guidelines still encourage Americans to limit their travel
and, in order to maintain compliance with those guidelines, many colleges across the
state have offered incentives to keep students on campus even during breaks between
terms. Encouraging students to take multiple trips across state lines, in the midst of a
deadly pandemic, is not only expensive and unattainable for many students, it also
increases the risk to communities in towns like Durham, Keene, Hanover, and
Plymouth. These students should be offered the opportunity to receive the vaccine here
while still following state and university guidelines.
Your administration has suggested that students should not receive the vaccine in
New Hampshire because they may leave for the Summer Term before they receive the
second shot. While it is true that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two doses,
recent studies suggest that they are 92% and 85% efficacious after the first dose,
indicating the massive safety benefits New Hampshire would accrue even if students left
before receiving both doses. Further, receiving the dose in two different locations
(whether across state lines or within New Hampshire) is not only accepted practice, but
encouraged in some states. As a result, restricting student access to vaccines hurts
Granite State communities near colleges and universities but does not benefit anyone.
This summer, you presented college students with a “bit of a plea” to take care of
our communities here in New Hampshire. We now plead with you to take care of us, the
students of New Hampshire’s universities who call the Granite State our home. If you
are truly worried about the impact, we, as young adults, may have on the spread of
COVID-19, then you have the power to include us in your vaccination plan. You have
acknowledged many times how detrimental an outbreak on a college campus can be to
the broader New Hampshire community. We are not just students: we are employees at
local businesses, volunteers at local organizations, and mentors at local schools. COVID-
19 will infect anyone living in New Hampshire, resident or not. You should vaccinate us
the same way. Institutions of higher learning have played a critical role in the success of
the state. Students always have, and always will be, present here. By vaccinating us, you
can ensure that COVID-19 is not.
Best,
Nicholas Fitzgerald - Student Body President, University of New Hampshire

Tyler Silverwood - Student Body Vice President, University of New Hampshire
Cait McGovern - Undergraduate Student Body President, Dartmouth College

Jonathan Briffault - Undergraduate Student Body Vice President, Dartmouth College
Teodoro Gonzalez Collazo - Student Board President (2021) for the Tuck School of
Business at Dartmouth
Hannah Sacchini - Student Board President (2022) for the Tuck School of Business at
Dartmouth
Eva Childers - Graduate Student Council President, Dartmouth College
Rachel Osmundsen - Graduate Student Council Vice President, Dartmouth College
Avery Jones - Student Body President, Plymouth State University

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April 5, 2021

Governor Chris Sununu

Nicholas Fitzgerald - Student Body President, University of New Hampshire

Cait McGovern - Undergraduate Student Body President, Dartmouth College

Avery Jones - Student Body President, Plymouth State University

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