Responding to
COVID-19

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take."

Michael Scott
It's not unusual for New Mexico to make the national news. After all, we have several national laboratories and some major national monuments and forests as well as unique historical sites. In the early part of the 20th Century, our dry climate was felt to be curative for Tuberculosis and people traveled from all over the country to recover from the disease. But, we've also had our share of negative publicity with our own brand of political scandal as well as diseases such as plague and hantavirus occasionally showing up in the headlines.

Lately, however, the state is being touted as an example of how to effectively deliver mass vaccinations. Simon Romero wrote last week in The New York Times, "New Mexico, which has one of the highest poverty rates in the U.S., is a vaccination pacesetter thanks to decisive political decisions, homegrown technology and cooperation." Evidently, the vaccination registration portal that the Department of Health implemented last year is considered one of the most effective mechanisms nationwide for getting people registered for vaccination and for getting them into vaccination events.

The article notes that the state implemented "one of the most efficient vaccine rollouts in the United States," and that more than 57 percent of the adult population has received at least one dose of vaccine. "New Hampshire is the only state with a higher vaccination rate. Nearly 38 percent of New Mexico adults are fully vaccinated, more than any other state."

“It was super important for us to get it right because we are a more resource-challenged location,” Dr. Meghan Brett, an epidemiologist at University of New Mexico Hospital, commented. The article notes that the Governor believed she had little choice but to move quickly and aggressively given the state's challenges such as a rapidly aging population, limited number of hospital beds, and a large population with underlying medical conditions such as chronic liver disease. “New Mexico’s foundational health disparities compel us to think differently than some other states with regard to pandemic response,” the Governor was quoted as saying. “I fully believe New Mexico can be the first state to reach herd immunity and be the first to begin operating in the new post-pandemic ‘normal’ the right way, the safe way.”

Setting political differences aside, whether one agrees with the Governor or not, looking at the challenges other states are facing with surges in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, New Mexico is doing pretty good when it comes to dealing with the pandemic.
As friends tell us they've been vaccinated, the first two questions we tend to ask are "Which vaccine?" and "Any side effects?" It seems to be the latest pandemic greeting. An article by Jackie Flynn Mogensen in Mother Jones, explores many of the side-effects people have experienced from the vaccines and offers some explanations for why they occur and what they mean.

First of all, side effects are normal. They indicate your body is responding to the vaccine and is working to build an immune response in the event you become infected with the coronavirus. Any fever or fatigue you might feel shortly after getting vaccinated is an indication your immune system is revving up to fight the antigens associated with the virus. Over the course of a week or two, your body will produce immune cells that “remember” these antigens and will protect you if you were to ever see the antigens again. 

Some other things the article points out include some COVID survivors reporting harsher vaccine side effects with the first dose than the general population, and young people reporting more side effects than older folks (because they tend to have stronger immune systems and therefore stronger immune responses). However, not having side effects is also common and doesn't mean you're not protected. Overall, people tend to report harsher side effects with the second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and women tend to have stronger reactions to the second Moderna shot. The important thing to remember is that the side effects associated with vaccination are not COVID-19. As Dr. Phyllis Tien, a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of California, San Francisco, reminds us, “The vaccine is not a live virus, so it is only helping your body’s immune response to a foreign enemy. But the enemy is never going to be able to cross the line and cause an actual infection.”

I've said many times in this message that the pandemic is far from over, even if many of us feel great relief that we live in a community where infections aren't surging, hospitals aren't overflowing, and vaccinations continue to become more and more available. Vaccinated or not, we still need to behave as if each of us has the virus and continue to mask up in public and maintain our physical distance from others. I know it's not easy. But Kitchen Angels' volunteers have shown that we can do it. Responding thoughtfully and compassionately to a crisis is built into our DNA. It's also what the community and our clients expect from us.

This will be the last weekly Kitchen Angels COVID-19 update. If and when things change that warrant a response from staff and volunteers or if we need to modify our protocols or operations, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I'm confident each of us knows what to do to keep ourselves and others as safe as possible.

In gratitude for all that you do.
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Thank you for your vigilance. We want you to stay safe,
healthy, and informed.