Annmarie Timmins, New Hampshire Bulletin

Yes, hate groups and right-wing extremists have made appearances in the increasingly angry fight in New Hampshire against vaccine mandates, mask policies, pandemic shutdowns, lessons on racism, unproven voter fraud, and even pronoun use. But the fight is being waged by your neighbors, not armed extremist groups in tactical gear.

Angry and frustrated teachers, parents, nurses, students, elected officials, and community members – many who've never been politically engaged before – are packing and often disrupting school and select board meetings across the state. And they are having an impact.

“To go and voice your opinion to your public officials, that is how our republic functions," said Andrew Manuse, co-founder of RebuildNH, a group helping to organize many of the protests. “We've been clamoring for how many years that people are not showing up for elections and not showing up for public meetings? People who have never been involved before are getting involved. We would say that's a good thing, and it is." ...

As the state prepares to hire a recruiting firm to bring desperately needed health care workers to New Hampshire, some nursing students with safety concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine are leaving their nursing programs over vaccine mandates. A new state law prohibits most of their colleges from requiring a COVID-19 vaccine, but their clinical sites can – and most will have to under the new Biden administration vaccine mandate for health care settings.

“A critical health care workforce shortage is on the horizon in New Hampshire unless these health care organizations drop their rigid policies," said Rep. Leah Cushman, a Weare Republican who has proposed legislation that would require hospitals and other health care settings to accept exemption requests by clinical students. (The law requires them to consider medical and religious exemption requests, but Cushman said she's been told they are being rejected without review.) “We can't afford to stop new nurses from entering the field."

Mandated vaccines for workers in health care settings has been both celebrated and attacked here and nationally, with opponents warning mandates will lead to large-scale resignations and exacerbate an already dire workforce shortage. ...

If Heidi Heath was in charge of measuring COVID-19's toll, she'd do more than count cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. She'd share “long hauler" stories like her own.

This article was originally published at the New Hampshire Bulletin

“Keeping people alive is not the only measure of success," said Heath, 38, of Exeter, whose long COVID-19 began 17 months ago with flu and strep throat-like symptoms and continues today with chronic pain that has prevented her from resuming running. “People can get sick and never recover." ...