Opinion: Time to get seniors 60 and older vaccinated

It has been clear for months that COVID-19 poses a higher risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death for seniors. But New Mexico is still playing catchup when it comes to vaccinating older people.

The state doesn't categorize people 60 to 74 in their own phase based on age, but lumps them in with thousands of “other essential workers” in group 1C. That puts thousands of New Mexicans between the ages of 60 and 74 who don't have a qualifying medical condition near the tail end of the vaccine priority line — which is shocking when you look at the mortality data that has emerged from this pandemic. They not only are behind front-line health workers (1A) but also those 75 and older, educators, those 16 and up with chronic conditions and essential front-line workers (1B).

There are various breakdowns looking at mortality risk based on age, but the message is clear. The older you are, the more at risk you are of dying of COVID-19 should you get the virus.

n According to the Centers for Disease Control, eight of 10 COVID-19 deaths reported in the U.S. have been adults 65 and over. AARP says 95% of the nation's deaths are people over 50.

Meanwhile, New Mexico's vaccine registry as of Thursday showed of about 101,198 people 75 and older who had registered for the vaccine on the Department of Health site, 78,584 had received at least one shot and 1,945 had been scheduled for an initial dose.

That means more than three months into the program more than 20,000 elderly New Mexicans who registered are still in limbo, wondering when they will be able to get vaccinated. Many have told us they check regularly, only to be told — electronically — there is nothing available.

State Department of Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins previously said the elderly were moved to the head of the line, so it's puzzling why we still have 20,000 who have registered and not been scheduled.

They, along with many in the 60-plus category, are understandably frightened, frustrated and angry.

Targeting the older age groups seemed to be a high priority from the beginning as the overriding goal expressed was to prevent hospitalization and deaths. But New Mexico chose to limit that approach by lumping anyone under 75 into other categories with tens of thousands of other people where they wait for their lottery number to come up.

It's time to get those 75 and older vaccinated, as well as putting in place a focused effort to get shots into the arms of people 60 and older. It's hard to argue otherwise in the face of overwhelming data that illustrates who is most at risk.

— Albuquerque Journal