New Mexico health officials target rural communities for virus vaccination
HILLSBORO, New Mexico -- New Mexico became the first state to provide at least one dose of the vaccine to half of its population and are one of the states leading the vaccination charge with 35.3% of New Mexicans fully vaccinated, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.
Despite producing some of the best numbers around the country, some of the population are struggling to get vaccinated.
A CDC report from March found that New Mexico ranked 37th in vaccinating people in high vulnerability counties.
A way in which health officials are trying to improve this is by sending doses out to communities like Hillsboro so people in towns nearby only have to drive a little while instead of driving to a larger city.
About 100 doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine were sent out on March 26, along with a nurse and administrator.
“We certainly realise the importance of being able to come to those areas to be able to get people vaccinated,” David Morgan, spokesman for NMDOH said.
Morgan told ABC-7 that the department of health is going out to rural communities or they’re providing the vaccine to the New Mexico national guard to take out and sometimes they’re doing dual events.
“Being able to go out to places like Hillsboro and rural New Mexico, these are the things that you need to be able to do to be able to assure that you get a population that is protected against Covid-19,” Morgan said.
