N.M. officials tout rate of vaccinations
State plans to launch online dashboard to track inoculation efforts; hospitalizations declining after post-holiday spike in cases
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and top health officials offered an encouraging message in a joint news conference Thursday: New Mexico is among the top in the nation for its rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and hospitalizations are declining.
More vaccine suppliers are coming, and a new vaccine dashboard will be online soon to offer updated information on the vaccination program, officials said.
“We absolutely can see light at the end of this very long, dark tunnel,” Lujan
Grisham said in the news conference, broadcast live on Facebook. “… The way to the other side of this pandemic is absolutely these treatments and vaccines.”
Dr. Tracie Collins, secretary-designate of the state Department of Health, said
New Mexico has administered more than
100,600 vaccinations out of over 153,000 vaccine doses delivered to New Mexico so far — one of the highest rates in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the last seven days, Collins said, the state administered more than 38,000 doses.
She urged New Mexicans to register for inoculation at cvvaccine.nmhealth.org, as half a million residents already have done.
New Mexico is one of the first states in the nation to have a registration website, Collins said, adding personal information provided on the site remains secure and is not shared with the federal government.
The state is now in Phase 1B of its vaccination rollout, with doses available to residents 75 and older, as well as to health care professionals and nursing home residents. The vaccine next will become available to residents over 16 who are essential front-line workers and more vulnerable to severe cases of the illness.
“I think it’s worth taking a minute here to be proud of New Mexico,” said Dr. David Scrase, human services secretary. Other states have reached out to New Mexico to learn from its vaccine rollout practices, he said.
“We want to continue to demonstrate that even in a small state with limited resources and high risks … we can get it right” and serve as a model for other states, the governor said.
She cited the state’s efforts in testing, contact tracing and addressing residents’ economic needs amid the pandemic.
“We’re getting up all of these systems,” she said. “One doesn’t diminish while another has to be launched.”
Lujan Grisham said she believes there will be increased negotiations between governors, public health officials and the federal government about getting more vaccines on the front end to minimize the timeline for distribution.
She acknowledged, however, that the process was a “happy medium” and that rolling out too much of the vaccine supply that the federal government is holding onto might put second doses in jeopardy.
“I’m beginning to feel like this federal agenda, along with the state’s readiness, is going to speed up this timeline,” Lujan Grisham said.
Santa Fe Public Schools announced Thursday it would begin its vaccination plan next week.
According to a news release, educators and staff with direct contact with students will be prioritized; full staff vaccination will be dependent on vaccine availability.
“The sooner we can get our educators and staff vaccinated, the closer we are to returning our students back to in-person instruction,” district Superintendent Veronica García said in a statement.
Lujan Grisham said the vaccine rollout has been an “incredible tool” for moving toward in-person learning.
“We are working and planning for just that, right now, and also working and getting input from educators,” Lujan Grisham said.
The state announced 1,434 new cases of the illness and 29 more deaths Thursday. Hospitalizations have decreased to 691, the governor said, but many facilities’ intensive care units remain overcapacity.
All six of the state’s hub hospitals remain at or above 100 percent ICU capacity, while 22 of 42 hospitals in the state have reported critical staffing shortages.
“We are clearly not out of the woods with hospitalizations … all the more reason to follow the advice you have heard already, to keep doing what you are doing: wearing your mask and keeping socially distanced,” Scrase said.
Scrase said the state has experienced an uptick in cases following the holiday season.
He also said mobility data based on residents’ cellphones shows there was more mobility during Christmas and New Year’s compared to Thanksgiving, which might have contributed to an increase in case numbers.
“More people are out. More people who are spending time with each other and perhaps giving the virus more opportunities to spread,” Scrase said. “The virus is really good at taking advantage of any opportunity it gets.”
While transmission rates are improving across New Mexico, officials said far more work must be done to stem the spread of the virus.
“We still need more New Mexicans to get tested so we know where our outbreaks are,” Lujan Grisham said.