New Mexico Health Minister says vaccine deployment is “positive” so far | Coronavirus

Approximately 160,000 New Mexicans have registered for the COVID-19 vaccine in the last eight days. It states that the state’s highest health authorities have made a strong start.

The· New registration site Dr. Tracy Collins, appointed Minister of Health, said in a webcast Wednesday that the more widespread deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine will play an important role in inoculating people as it takes place in the coming months. ..

“The original challenge was to be able to enroll people, but we outweighed that challenge on the vaccine registration site,” Collins said.

The news came when the state updated the county-based COVID-19 map and only Catron County rose from red to yellow status. This means that you can relax some of your business restrictions. The other 32 counties in the state, including Santa Fe, remained in the red.

Health officials said 28 counties showed some improvement.

To turn yellow, the county must have up to 8 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days, or less than 5% of tests must be positive. To upgrade to the least restricted green, the county must meet both benchmarks.

Collins touched on a new, faster-spreading strain of coronavirus that emerged in Europe and was detected in people in Colorado and California this week.

“What we are doing is watching it carefully,” Collins said. “I hope the current vaccine is sufficient, but I need to pay attention to this.”

The New Mexico virus outbreak has declined since the November outbreak, but vaccination of residents remains imminent as more than 141,000 people have been infected and 2,436 have died as of Wednesday. It is a necessity.

However, state officials say it will take some time before vaccination begins to affect infection rates.

As of Sunday, New Mexico had received approximately 50,000 vaccinations, 41,075, according to state data.

According to Collins, new Mexicans enrolling in the vaccine are essential in planning and prioritizing who will receive the next injection and tracking who has been vaccinated.

Registration allows people to line up locations so they can receive shots when they become available to people in the risk group. The state will notify registered people when it is their turn to get vaccinated.

When asked if criticism was justified for the relatively small number of people vaccinated in both the state and the country, Collins said that distributing vaccines in a pandemic was “complex logistic.” “Operation”.

“I would say we are positive in the direction we are going,” she said.

In this early stage, health care workers, long-term care staff, and residents of such homes are lined up first. According to Collins, people over the age of 75 will come next.

She estimated that it could take until mid-February to complete the first phase. Health officials, meanwhile, are assessing who should be at the forefront in the second phase.

She said most allergic patients should be okay to take the vaccine and their allergies do not affect the time it takes for them to be vaccinated.

Collins repeatedly required at least two vaccinations. The first shot triggers the antibody and the second shot acts as a booster to escalate antibody production.

According to data from both companies, the Pfizer vaccine takes 21 days and the Moderna takes 28 days.

According to Collins, recipients are 25 percent more likely to be infected with the virus after the first dose. After the second shot, she said, the chance of getting infected was reduced to 10 percent.

If everyone can wait for the next six months, the planned broader vaccine offering should allow people to hug again and enjoy family gatherings on holidays, Collins said.

“So there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel.”