New Mexico Leads The U.S. In Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout

Despite having inadequate numbers of hospital beds and insufficient access to critical medical care throughout the pandemic, New Mexico is leading the nation in the vaccine effort. It is the first state to have greater than 50% of adults receiving at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Over 38% of adults in New Mexico are fully immunized, more than nearly any other state in the country. The state has a long history of poor access to healthcare and stark disparity in access to care: it has one of the highest poverty rates in the country, and many residents live in rural areas, notorious for limited access to health care as well as other critical services. In addition, minority populations, who have suffered enormously from coronavirus infections, including Hispanics and Native Americans, comprise over 60% of the population of New Mexico.

Part of the success of New Mexico’s vaccine rollout stems from the initial safety measures initiated by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, a former state health secretary. Mask mandates and social distancing restrictions were instituted early in the pandemic, and remain in place. As vaccines became available, New Mexico instituted a centralized sign-up system with the help of the software company Real Time Solutions, based in Albuquerque. Unlike sign-ups in other states, which have varied means of finding a vaccine site, New Mexico’s unique system enabled all residents to have more standard, equalized access to signing up for a vaccine.

Members of tribal nations, such as the Navajo nation, have been hit extraordinarily hard by coronavirus infections. They have also been extraordinarily efficient in providing widespread vaccination to their entire adult communities, reaching levels as high as or higher than other demographic groups. In contrast, one of the most challenging demographics to reach, in New Mexico and elsewhere in the country, has been white evangelicals. According to a New York Times report, of the 41 million white evangelical adults in the U.S., 45% polled will not receive the Covid-19 vaccine. While some evangelical pastors have publicly voiced the importance of the vaccine to their congregrations as well as on social media, popular talk show hosts and even one doctor who are well-regarded in the evangelical community have made statements to continue to instill fear of the Covid-19 vaccines.

The Department of Health (DOH) in New Mexico created a method of vaccine allocation and distribution based on the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) social vulnerability index (SVI). This index incorporates 15 social factors, such as poverty, lack of vehicle access, and crowded housing arrangements. Targeting populations based on high SVI, along with those regions with disproportionately higher incidence of Covid-19 positivity rates, enabled the New Mexican DOH to directly prioritize vaccine allocation and administration to these under-served communities. Walk-in access as well as mobile clinics were provided to more vulnerable populations early on in their vaccine rollout.

The centralized nature of the rollout also meant that residents were only able to receive a vaccine when it became available in their neighborhood. This meant that those who lived in regions with the highest Covid-19 positivity rates had access to the vaccine before those who live in areas with lower levels of the virus. This contrasts greatly with other states, where residents from affluent areas were signing up to receive vaccines up to 100 miles from their homes, oftentimes in economically-challenged areas. For those who had the means to access vaccines outside of their demographic as well as their Tier, it often felt like a scene from the “Hunger Games.”

Currently all New Mexicans, ages 16+, are now eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. And by April 19th, this will be the case in all 50 states. However, the vaccine rollout allocation in New Mexico will continue to be based on vulnerability and equity. This is unlikely to be the case in many other regions in this country and throughout the world.