State passes 70% mark for vaccinations

The New Mexico Department of Health reported a milestone in vaccination on Wednesday, with the state passing the 70% mark for full COVID-19 vaccination among New Mexicans 18 and older.

“Almost three-quarters of New Mexico adults have now completed their vaccination series,” DOH Deputy Secretary Laura Parajon said in a department release. “Thank you to every New Mexican for getting your shots and protecting your community.”

As of Friday, the state has a 70.2% full vaccination rate among adults and 79;7% with at least one dose.

Curry and Roosevelt counties remain under the 50% marks, with Curry County at 47.6% and Roosevelt County last among the 33 counties at 37.1%. A total of nine counties are under the 50% vaccination mark, with Roosevelt the only county below 40%.

The DOH confirmed 714 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, including 22 cases in Curry County and five in Roosevelt County. None of the 14 statewide deaths reported were local.

Roosevelt County on Wednesday confirmed its 66th death on Wednesday, a male in his 80s who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the BeeHive Homes Portales facility.

The state has confirmed 246,229 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, approximately 12% of the state’s population of 2.1 million. That includes 6,891 cases in Curry County and 2,530 in Roosevelt County.

In other COVID-19 developments:

• The average number of COVID patients hospitalized at Plains Regional Medical Center has been decreasing over the past week.

The Clovis hospital had been averaging 20-25 COVID patients per day over the past month-plus, but that average dropped to 17 last week. On Friday, PRMC officials said just 15 patients were hospitalized with COVID.

The number of PRMC COVID patients on a ventilator averaged four per day last week.

The hospital reported three deaths related to the virus since last Sunday.

Roosevelt General Hospital in Portales did not respond to an email requesting COVID information on Friday.

• Acting Health Secretary David Scrase said during Wednesday’s state briefing that two New Mexicans have died of Ivermectin poisoning, which has made the rounds online as a potential treatment for COVID-19. The state is requiring hospitals report any human cases of poisoning with the horse dewormer medicine, and Scrase said the state usually gets one or two daily reports. Scrase advised anybody who has taken Ivermectin or knows somebody who did to call poison control at 800-222-1222.

“We’re watching the literature, reading everything we can on it,” Scrase said. “There’s a very strong advocacy community for taking the unproven drug. In New Mexico, we try to go with a preponderance of evidence, and we don’t have it yet to recommend this drug.”

Scrase declined to provide any additional details about either poisoning victim because any biographical information would give local residents enough information to identify them.

• In response to a question from an Eddy County media representative about the county possibly hitting the 50% vaccination rate, Scrase said he would be just as happy with Eddy County going from 47% to 50% as he would Los Alamos County going from 88% to 90% because “any improvement anywhere in the state helps “