Ramping up vaccinations
State will expand vaccine availability to everyone over 16
All New Mexicans older than 16 will be eligible to receive coronavirus vaccines beginning Monday, state health officials announced Wednesday in the latest effort to step up inoculations and avoid a dreaded fourth surge of the coronavirus.
Vaccinations will still follow the prescribed phases, with priority given to essential workers as well as people who are at least 75 years old or 60 and older with serious medical conditions.
The expanded availability will allow medical providers who can’t fill vaccine appointments with the prioritized groups to give shots to the broader population in an effort to speed up inoculations.
“We opened up the opportunities for everyone 16 and over because of our success in getting the majority of New Mexicans in those early phases vaccinated,” David Morgan, a spokesman for the state Department of Health, wrote in an email. “That’s not to say we’re done. Those still not vaccinated from the earlier phases will still be our priority to vaccinate.”
The state’s announcement caused some concern and confusion among area residents like Michael Schwarz, 68, who is still waiting for his shots.
“Why are they opening the floodgates when they haven’t even called people like me in my ancient age group?” asked Schwarz, a Santa Fe attorney. “Really makes no sense.”
Morgan said the state still will prioritize shots according to age, medical conditions and occupations as it works toward its ultimate goal of vaccinating all willing New Mexicans.
Officials at the state’s larger hospitals say they haven’t had a problem filling daily vaccination slots, but they welcome the wider eligibility.
“While the expansion does not change our process, we are excited about the state’s progress and always encouraged when more people are eligible for vaccines,” said Jon Wade, chief executive at Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center.
Arturo Delgado, spokesman for Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, said that hospital will continue to inoculate people according to available supply and whoever is qualified to receive a shot.
“Since we began administering vaccines, we have been diligent about not wasting any vaccines,” Delgado wrote in an email. “If there are unfilled slots, we work to fill those with a priority on who is eligible.”
And as New Mexico broadens eligibility, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has indicated states should expect greater vaccine supply in the coming weeks, including significant increases in the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, state health officials said in a news release.
The Biden administration announced plans in early March to buy an additional 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, enough to vaccinate the entire country.
However, production suffered a setback
Wednesday when a Baltimore plant mixed up that vaccine’s ingredients with AstraZeneca’s, ruining 15 million Johnson & Johnson doses, the New York Times reported.
Current doses being shipped and used nationwide are not affected because they were made in the Netherlands, the Times reported. But the mishap will delay future shipments until the quality control problems are sorted out, causing an uncertain impact on President Joe Biden’s plans to supply enough vaccine to immunize all adults by June.
“We’re working with our federal partners to see how this will affect New Mexico’s upcoming shipments,” wrote Matt Bieber, another state Health Department spokesman, in an email.
Health experts say the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will accelerate inoculation, although its distribution is still far outpaced by Pfizer and Moderna vaccine deliveries. The Baltimore plant was created to help Johnson & Johnson catch up.
So far, New Mexico has received 34,100 doses from Johnson & Johnson. The state is set to receive about 30,000 doses next week and 11,600 doses each of the following two weeks.
That vaccine accounts for a small portion of the 1.217 million doses the state has administered.
Pfizer and Moderna opted for a two-dose vaccine, partly to lessen the side effects. These vaccines use messenger RNA to instruct the immune system to produce antibodies as if the virus were present.
The first shot triggers the antibodies, and the second shot escalates the production. People typically complain of more intense flu-like symptoms after the second dose.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a dead virus to kick-start the body’s immunity, more in line with traditional inoculation.
Its side effects are reported to be similar to what people commonly experience from the other vaccines — soreness where the needle was jabbed, headache, fatigue, muscle pain and nausea. Symptoms appear within two days after the shot and generally last one to two days.
People who receive Johnson & Johnson’s shot have a 30 percent chance of developing mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms compared to about 5 percent from the other two vaccines. However, it matches Pfizer’s and Moderna’s nearly 100 percent success rate in preventing hospitalization and death, according to clinical studies.
Mark Rudi, spokesman for University of New Mexico Health Sciences, said it has only administered the Pfizer vaccine but will gladly use whatever alternatives the state supplies as more people qualify.
In a statement, state Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins noted Biden seeks to have every adult eligible for vaccination by May 1.
“New Mexico will meet that mark nearly a month early,” Collins said.