With just days left, NM reopening target in doubt

Jun. 16—SANTA FE — After an earlier slowdown, New Mexicans are completing their COVID-19 vaccinations at a faster pace since the Department of Health started offering $100 in cash to get the shot, top health officials said Wednesday.

But it isn't clear whether New Mexico will reach its goal of vaccinating 60% of adult residents by the end of Thursday — the target Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration said would allow the state to fully reopen July 1.

"I think we can get there," Human Services Secretary David Scrase said in a public briefing Wednesday. "We just need everyone to help us do it."

New Mexico made slow progress Wednesday toward the vaccine goal. The share of residents with all their shots rose to 58.7%, just 0.2 percentage points above Tuesday's total.

During Wednesday's briefing, Scrase and Health Secretary Tracie Collins — the top physicians in Lujan Grisham's Cabinet — did not directly answer questions about whether New Mexico would push back its reopening target if the state fails to reach the 60% goal by Thursday.

They said they would review the data with Lujan Grisham on Friday before deciding how to proceed.

Scrase and Collins instead focused on encouraging as many New Mexicans as possible to get either the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the second of the two doses required for the Moderna and Pfizer shots.

"I'm not concerned at this point, but I'm keeping my eye on the data," Collins said.

They highlighted the state's $100 cash offer to anyone who completes their vaccine shots by Thursday and the $250,000 lottery awards that will begin Friday for people who register for the state's vaccine sweepstakes. Four winners will be picked this week, one from each region of New Mexico.

Nationwide, 34 states have fully reopened by eliminating pandemic-related business restrictions and curfews, according to the AARP. That includes the neighboring states of Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma and Utah.

While the Lujan Grisham has relaxed business restrictions and scaled back a statewide face mask mandate in recent weeks, some restrictions remain under the state's color-coded system, which factors in county-level virus trends.

The restrictions that remain in place for all 33 New Mexico counties include limiting restaurants to 75% of capacity indoors and on patios — and barring more than six patrons from sitting at the same table — and a ban on public gatherings of more than 150 people.

But Scrase said that other governors' decisions to reopen their economies will not impact New Mexico's decision-making.

"We're not using Texas data to decide what's best for New Mexico," he said, citing elevated vulnerability to the virus in New Mexico due to its small supply of hospital beds per capita and social factors.

Incentives

New Mexico officials rolled out the incentive programs in recent weeks after the state's COVID-19 vaccine administration rate began to slow.

Scrase released data showing a 30% increase in Moderna and Pfizer booster shots in the days following the launch of the campaign offering $100 for completing vaccination. The number of Johnson & Johnson shots jumped by more than five times, from 142 to 793.

New Mexico allocated about $2.7 million of its federal stimulus funding for incentives, including the $100 cash awards, he said.

Meanwhile, Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett said through Tuesday, "about $300,000 had been distributed via the $100 incentive and hundreds of gift cards have been awarded, in addition to more that will be sent out later, plus lottery scratchers that folks have won on-site."

Scrase said the incentives are working and the cost is small compared to the spending on hospitalizations and other health care.

"We believe this is a smart investment," he said.

The new COVID-19 variants, Scrase said, make it all the more important for people to complete their vaccine series. The first shot of the Pfizer vaccine, for example, is only 33% effective against the Delta variant but 88% effective after the second shot.

"The more vaccinated our population is in general, the more resistant we are to these spreadable variants," Scrase said.

The state has two more days to reach its goal of vaccinating 60% of residents 16 and older: Shots administered Wednesday and Thursday will count toward the target, with the data set to be released Friday.

Lujan Grisham this spring established July 1 as the target for New Mexico to lift capacity restrictions on businesses and reopen the state, though some regulations, she said, might remain in place.

Myths

Collins on Wednesday bluntly shot down a host of myths about the COVID-19 vaccine. It won't make you magnetic or infect you with COVID-19 itself, she said, and there's no evidence it affects fertility.

As with any vaccine, she said, scientists will continue to study side effects.

"Let's keep going, New Mexico," Collins said of the vaccine pace. "We're going to make it."