FEMA Awards Almost $7.8 Million to New Hampshire for COVID Vaccination and Testing Costs

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending nearly $7.8 million to the State of New Hampshire to reimburse it for the costs of providing testing and vaccination services to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $7,774,962 in FEMA Public Assistance grants will reimburse New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for between November 2020 and June 2022.

One grant of $5,571,258 will cover the costs of contracting for data analytics for case tracking and vaccine administration, assisting the staffing of health organizations to run vaccination clinics, setting up COVID call centers, and for software related to vaccination scheduling and telehealth communications between April 2021 and July 2022.

Contracts also provided statewide transportation to vaccination and testing appointments; COVID testing for long-term care facilities, and collecting data on populations to evaluate vaccination efforts, vaccination safety and state response as well as to help target a public service announcement campaign. 

A second grant of $2,203,704 will reimburse the state for purchasing materials to set up and operate over 200 testing and vaccine sites across the state, including contracting for professional cleaning and disinfecting of vaccination sites, providing climate control maintenance for the portable trailers, and renting vehicles for use at the vaccination sites. DHHS also purchased 200,000 testing kits and 62,500 at-home tests between January 2021 and June 2022.

“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist New Hampshire with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “Reimbursing state, county, and municipal governments – as well as eligible non-profits and tribal entities – for the costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic is an important part of our nation’s ongoing recovery.”

FEMA’s Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.

So far, FEMA has provided more than $317 million in Public Assistance grants to New Hampshire to reimburse the state for pandemic-related expenses.