More than a quarter of New Mexicans over the age of 75 have been vaccinated »Albuquerque Journal

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Copyright © 2021 Albuquerque Journal

28% of people over the age of 75 in New Mexico receive at least one COVID-19 vaccine as the continuous deployment of vaccinations for those at the top of the priority list reaches about 60,000 per week. State health officials said Wednesday.

Questions about the pace of vaccination, the impact of coronavirus cases on the number of cases, and the fair distribution of vaccines among the 33 counties of the state were asked by Dr. Tracie Collins and Dr. Tracie Collins, who were appointed Secretary of Health at a press conference on Wednesday. Featured in David Scrase, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Chief Medical Advisor on COVID-19 pandemic response.

Collins cites several factors as to why some counties, such as Doña Ana County, the second most populous county in the state, have far fewer vaccinations per capita than expected.

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The county in southern New Mexico had the 19th highest per capita rate of vaccines administered. (A map and a per capita list by county can be found at cvvaccine.nmhealth.org/public-dashboard.html.)

Currently, vaccinations are available only to first responders, healthcare and healthcare professionals, people aged 75 and over, and people aged 16 and over who are in good health.

“So you see the percentage of those people in a given county, which is one factor that causes a discrepancy between county and weapon shots,” she said. Provider capabilities and vaccine acceptance can also “affect the disparities seen in each county and the number of vaccines distributed,” Collins said.

She added that the DOH team evaluates county-by-county fairness and allocation issues to ensure fairness.

“We need to make sure that the approach to vaccine distribution isn’t just wealthy, as it actually reaches all communities throughout the state, with internet access and nice phone calls (who). I want to understand the additional efforts and activities. Please visit the registration app. “

DOH wants to ensure that there is no discrimination or selection of peers.

DOH has identified 151,653 New Mexicans over the age of 75 as vaccine targets. An additional 138,000 are healthcare professionals and first responders, so they are at the top of the priority list, and another 590,472 belong to the third group of healthy people over the age of 16.

Even with the current 9,000 daily doses of vaccine, Collins said it could take months to vaccinate all 800,000 currently eligible.

“If you get the vaccine once and you have two healthcare providers, you basically randomize them to see who gets the vaccine,” she said. “So we are randomizing within those groups.”

Collins said DOH is considering holding a special event to vaccinate eligible elderly people.

“People over the age of 75 may find it difficult to move quickly and make reservations, even if they have access to a car or the internet, so it is necessary to provide a way or place to get vaccinated. there is.”

Meanwhile, DOH has revised its online map of vaccination information by county to show per capita rates rather than per capita rates. New comparisons top the union county immunization rate at 39.5 per 100 people.

Bernarillo county was the seventh highest per capita vaccine at 16.8, while Sandoval and Valencia counties were single digits at 29th and 28th respectively. Los Alamos County is 31st and Doña Ana County is 19th, with 9.2 vaccinated per 100 people. Santa Fe County and Taos County were 5th and 6th respectively.

Educators are not currently eligible to be vaccinated as a group, despite the school’s opening this month, Collins said.

She said teachers and school staff over the age of 75 are currently eligible and “many teachers are actually suffering from chronic illness and are eligible.”

Scrase, Cabinet Secretary for the State’s Human Services Division, said the decision to reopen the school was partly due to computer modeling results at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in December.

“The important thing was that we could actually wear masks six feet apart and prevent the spread of the disease at school than if we weren’t at school,” Scrase said.

Meanwhile, Scrase said new COVID-19 cases are declining in all regions of New Mexico through preventative efforts such as increasing social distance and wearing masks.

“And now, through our modeling, we’re seeing the effect of the vaccine on the number of cases,” he said. “I now believe that enough people are vaccinated, which is 10%, but profits are beginning to be seen there.”

Meanwhile, the state reported 670 additional COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, with an additional 29 deaths associated with the virus. The total number of cases reported so far is 175,652, with 3,338 deaths. As of Wednesday, 476 people were hospitalized for the virus.

“We immunize about 9,000 people a day,” Scrase said, with an average of 584 new cases in the last seven days.

“This feels like the beginning of a fourth quarter comeback,” Scrase added. “And that’s a great score.”