CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – The Cibola County Emergency Manager’s Office is working with the New Mexico Department of Health for Cibola is pushing out the COVID-19 vaccine as rapidly as they possible.
Three hundred and forty-five county residents have pre-registered for the vaccine. New Mexico has moved into phase 1b of the vaccine process, meaning that residents 75 years or older can get inoculated, people 16 years or older with underlying conditions that would cause complications with COVID-19 can get the shots, and frontline workers who cannot work from home like educators, educator assistants and grocery store workers can receive the vaccine.
New Mexico is expected, according to NMDOH, to enter phase 1c in the spring. People in this phase who can get their inoculations are transport and logistical workers and those employed with utility providers, food service, retail, IT (internet technicians), housing, energy, media, legal and livestock services. Phase 2 is expected to get started in the summer, where all people regardless of age or job duties can get inoculated.
“This [prediction] is based on how much we can get,” Cibola County Emergency Manager Dustin Middleton said. “Sometimes we get shipments of 50 vaccines, sometimes more. But we use every dose that we get.”
The faster Cibola County receives the vaccines, the faster they can get it into resident’s arms, Middleton explained.
New Mexico first receives the vaccine from the federal government. The state then provides the vaccines to the counties. Once it arrives in Cibola, county health officials contact those people who have preregistered for a shot with details on where to get vaccinated.
Where do I go to get vaccinated?
Community members must first be registered in order to get vaccinated.
Visit https://cvtestreg.nmhealth.org/ to pre-register.
After registering, the state will contact people when they can receive the shot. In Cibola County, the vaccine will be administered at the “old armory,” 2001 Clif Lear Avenue in Grants. The site is just beyond the Interstate-40 overpass on the east side of Grants.
Just like with the COVID-19 testing, individuals will be given a code to verify who they are. This will be a personalized code; Emergency Manager Middleton emphasized that people must not give that code to others.
After being vaccinated, recipients will be asked to remain in the parking lot for at least 15 minutes to monitor their reaction. People with factors that may put them at risk for a severe reaction will be asked to stay at least 30 minutes. To accommodate the volume of people lining up to receive the shot, the Cibola County Roads Department has been working to clear the fields behind the armory to make more space for the safety of the work crews, and to create parking as necessary.
“It wasn’t bad,” Emergency Manager Middleton said after receiving his second dose of the vaccine.
“I was vaccinated on Thursday and I felt drained on Friday; I had a bit of a headache. But I woke up on Saturday morning and felt fine.”
He said his arm was sore for a while but that is to be expected with any vaccine.
“I think it was just the jolt my body needed to realize that it’s fighting something,” Middleton said.
What is Cibola’s status today?
On Monday, Jan. 11 Cibola County stood at 2,431 total COVID-19 positives with 81 total deaths and 1,380 people who had recovered in the past ten months.
In contrast, one week ago on Monday, Dec. 4, Cibola had 2,318 total positives and 76 total deaths. This means that Cibola County has seen a four percent increase in cases during the past week and a 6.5 percent increase in deaths this past week.
According to NMDOH data Cibola County has 1,051 active positives cases countywide.
Across the three correctional facilities in Cibola County, there are 576 positives. These are positives which have been tracked since March.