New Mexicans should get the vaccination
After months of darkness, we can finally see the light. It might seem dim right now, but it’s rapidly getting brighter.
After enduring almost a year of lockdowns and quarantines, isolation and illness, we have a path forward. It’s been a rocky start so far for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, due mostly to failures from our federal government — an uncertain supply chain, scant support for vaccine distribution, and a weak and contradictory communications strategy.
Despite all of that, here in New Mexico we rolled with the punches and developed the infrastructure to rapidly ramp up vaccine distribution. The New Mexico Department of Health has formed a strong network throughout our state, involving hospitals and community clinics and reaching into the most rural counties. Each week, we have almost doubled the amount of vaccine delivered, and over 400,000 New Mexicans have registered to get the vaccine at cvvaccine.nmhealth.org.
President-elect Joe Biden has promised to address the problems with the federal supply chain, ramp up production of vaccine using the Defense Production Act, and support vaccine distribution by better leveraging the capacity of pharmacies, hospitals and other medical centers along with providing federally run vaccine clinics across the nation. The rest depends on us.
Because of the vacuum of reliable information from trusted sources, misinformation is rampant and it’s difficult to know whom to believe. The truth is that both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines are among the most effective vaccines ever developed. They are also among the safest, with a rate of severe adverse reaction of around one per 100,000. Almost all of those were anaphylaxis within 15 minutes of vaccination that was easily reversed.
In the latest twist to our coronavirus saga, the vaccination effort has become a race against time. Last week we learned the significantly more contagious United Kingdom mutation has reached New Mexico. Our case rates over the past weeks seem to have plateaued and may even be rising again after a couple of weeks of decline in December. If we are not able to expand vaccination quickly, we may see rising case rates and deaths into February and March.
Because of the large amount of virus still in our communities, we will have to maintain vigilance even after we are vaccinated. Even those fully vaccinated may still be able to transmit asymptomatic infections. And while the vaccines are highly effective, they are not 100 percent, so a small percentage of people might get symptomatic infections, although likely much less severe.
Until we have all but banished the scourge from our state and see case rates diminishing significantly, we will still have to wear masks, socially distance and limit our exposure to others outside of our household. A little over 7 percent of New Mexicans have gotten COVID-19; if we can vaccinate another 60 percent to 70 percent, we can beat the virus into submission and start reviving our economy and getting back to our normal lives. Once we reach the goal of herd immunity, so many people will be immune to the virus that transmission will drop to almost zero.
There is another, darker path to the goal of herd immunity, one that would lead to hundreds more deaths and thousands more cases. We’ve already lost almost 3,000 of our fellow New Mexicans to the virus, and about 50 percent of deaths are among those older than 65. With the loss of our elders, we’ve also lost memories, culture and heritage. In Native communities with some of the highest death rates, the last known speakers of Indigenous languages are threatened.
The choice between these paths is in our hands. Register at the Department of Health website. If you are still uncertain, discuss the vaccine with your primary care provider. When the time comes for your turn for the vaccine, step up to the plate. You can be a hero and save lives, and together, we can end this dark period for our state and country, and get back to living and celebrating in that bright New Mexican light for which we are famous.