New Mexico health officials celebrate vaccine’s arrival, but warn masks still needed
SANTA FE, New Mexico — Officials with the New Mexico Department of Health held a briefing Tuesday to discuss the first coronavirus vaccines that have arrived in New Mexico as hospitals go about distributing doses to front-line health care workers.
Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins explained that while receiving the vaccines is a significant milestone in combating the virus, it is still critical to wear masks and practice social distancing.
“While the vaccine prevents Covid infection, we’re still learning whether it prevents transmission. This means that as New Mexicans begin to get vaccinated, we still need to wear masks, maintain six-foot social distancing, wash our hands often, and keep up with other Covid-safe practices,” Collins said.
During here briefing on Tuesday morning, vaccine shipments were arriving at Memorial Medical Center is Las Cruces, hospital officials there told ABC-7.
A day prior, shipments arrived at the New Mexico Department of Health’s warehouse and at a hospital in Santa Fe, where the first group of workers at high to medium risk was vaccinated. They included respiratory care, nursing and radiology specialists.
In all, New Mexico is getting 17,550 doses as part of the first distribution wave and hospital officials expressed confidence that there would be enough doses for all employees who want to be inoculated.
The shipments come as new Covid-19 cases have decreased but hospitalizations and deaths remain high.
Leaders of the state's largest health care providers said they're excited about the prospect of vaccinations for medical staff who work daily with Covid-19 patients and other health care workers who are at high risk.
But they said the vaccinations won't change the way hospitals operate and that personal protective equipment and other protocols that have been adopted over the last several months will remain in place.
“It is not a solution at this point. It is not going to keep us from having other surges at this time so we need to really understand that the need for the masks and the need to social distance still exists,” said Dr. Vesta Sandoval, the chief medical officer at Lovelace Health System.
Sandoval also said being vaccinated is safer than suffering a Covid-19 infection or running the risk of infecting others.
New Mexico hospitals recently submitted vaccination plans to the state, which is coordinating distribution.
At Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe, officials described Monday's vaccine delivery as the “best unboxing in history” and they shared photos of workers in the hospital's pharmacy opening the package.
Under the state's plan, later shipments will be distributed to staff and residents at long-term care facilities such as nursing homes. Decisions are still pending about which groups of people to vaccinate after that.
State health officials have said critical workers and vulnerable populations include police and corrections officers, public transit workers, child care center personnel and possibly teachers.
