NM makes boosters more widely available

SANTA FE — New Mexico on Friday became the third state to make COVID-19 booster vaccines available to all adults 18 and over, following an executive order from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The governor also kept New Mexico among the few states that continue to have an indoor facemask mandate, as a public health order requiring them regardless of vaccination status through at least Dec. 10.

California and Colorado are the only other states that have made booster shots eligible to all adults. New Mexicans 18 and older may schedule a booster at vaccinenm.org if they received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine more than six months ago or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine more than two months ago.

State officials continue to caution that New Mexico is not clear of the pandemic.

“Case counts are significant, spread rates are far too high,” Acting Health Secretary David Scrase said in a release from the governor’s office, “and the Delta variant is far more transmissible than previous variants. In addition, our hospitals are well beyond capacity, and several have declared Crisis Standards of Care. Those factors absolutely make New Mexico a high-risk setting.”

While state officials stress the vaccines remain highly effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths, new data suggests that immunity protection can wane over time. Health officials are also recommending children 5-17 receive vaccinations scheduled by their parent or guardian.

The mask mandate extension, while no doubt a disappointment to many, was no surprise. Scrase said during a briefing in late October the state would consider lifting the mandate when the state was under 200 new cases of COVID-19 per day. The state has not reported a day of less than 500 cases, and only three days below 700 cases, in the last five weeks.

A separate public health order remains in place requiring health care workers to be vaccinated and implementing vaccinate or test protocols for school workers.

Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon and Washington also require facemasks in indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status. Three states — California, Connecticut and New York — have mask mandates for unvaccinated individuals.

Case report: Thursday and Friday saw the state report 3,524 new cases and 21 COVID-19 fatalities. The Friday report was combined due to the Veterans Day holiday, and included 33 Curry County cases and 17 Roosevelt County cases.

The last three days saw Curry County record four COVID-19 deaths. The Wednesday report included a female in her 50s who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. The Thursday/Friday deaths were a male in his 50s who was hospitalized and two females, one in her 50s and one in her 60s, who were both hospitalized and had underlying conditions.