Gov. Lujan Grisham lauds state’s response to pandemic
In interview, she says statewide positivity rate is now below 3 percent
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham touted New Mexico’s coronavirus pandemic response and discussed the factors that have helped the state become a national leader in COVID-19 vaccine distribution Tuesday during a one-on-one online interview with the Washington Post.
In the half-hour interview with reporter Eugene Scott, Lujan Grisham credited relationships forged early in the pandemic with the state’s successes in the vaccine rollout.
Since the Pfizer vaccine first became available in December, New Mexico has been among the top states in the country in the percentage of administering the doses it receives, at more than 90 percent.
Lujan Grisham said the state’s centralized public health delivery system, its robust public-private partnerships and its data registry system to sign up for the vaccine have resulted in a more efficient distribution infrastructure.
“We coordinated on [personal protective equipment], on testing. We did all of that work a year ago,” Lujan Grisham said. “So when it came time for the vaccines, we did the same effort. We leveraged public and private folks.”
Lujan Grisham said the state is currently capable of administering 50,000 doses per day, but that it is “nowhere close to that” due to a limited supply.
She said that should improve soon with the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine over the weekend.
The statewide positivity rate has plummeted in recent weeks as new daily case counts have dropped significantly from just a few months ago. Lujan Grisham said Tuesday the statewide positivity rate is now below 3 percent.
“We’re seeing case counts low enough that we believe that vaccines account for 20 percent of that incredible reduction,” she said.
The state Department of Health’s vaccine equity plan, announced last week, also was a topic of discussion.
In a state with a large minority population, Lujan Grisham said the Department of Health felt it wasn’t doing enough to help at-risk populations.
“We looked at the data, and we decided we could do two things better,” Lujan Grisham said. “One, we can get much more granular at the ZIP code level to really make sure that we’re reaching high-risk minorities.
“And two, we’re actually going to use census data as we go granular so that we have a
vulnerability index factor that looks at everything from socioeconomic status to your minority or racial status and household circumstances.”
Lujan Grisham said about 25 percent of vaccine doses will be dedicated to communities that are most at risk for higher mortality rates and COVID-19 complications. The state will review the data each week to determine whether it is accomplishing its goals to reach those groups effectively, she added.
Lujan Grisham was also asked about critics who say her aggressive public health restrictions crushed New Mexico’s economy.
On Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he will lift mask mandates in his state and that all businesses will be allowed to operate at 100 percent capacity starting March 10.
This prompted Republican Party of New Mexico Chairman Steve Pearce to release a statement Tuesday that said, “It’s time for Gov. Lujan Grisham to wake up and realize that New Mexicans are craving a normal life. She’s destroyed businesses, killed livelihoods and promoted despair across the New Mexico with her random and illogical decrees.”
Lujan Grisham said in Tuesday’s interview the state’s limited health care resources required aggressive restrictions in order to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed, but she admits there’s been a significant toll on the economy.
“Let’s own that businesses were lost, livelihoods were lost and diminished, and the financial insecurity for far too many New Mexicans and far too many Americans is real, which is why the rescue plan is so critical to us,” she said. “But we also stepped up as a state.”
The state has attempted to reduce the economic impact with two special sessions that provided financial relief to businesses, and Lujan Grisham noted that through bills passed in the current legislative session, about $700 million in grants and low-interest loans will be distributed to support businesses and economic investment.
She said the federal stimulus package, yet to be passed by the Senate, will also be vital in providing needed relief to those who are struggling. “We believe that this gives us the best opportunity to sort of jump-start the economy again and to shore up businesses,” Lujan Grisham said, “including allowing them to use the resources that we’ve set aside to deal with landlord-tenant issues, rent and mortgage issues, utility issues, all of the above, which is why this rescue plan is critical to New Mexico.”