Health order requires boosters for some

SANTA FE — An amended emergency public health order issued Thursday by the state of New Mexico will require many workers vaccinated against COVID-19 to receive a booster shot when eligible.

The move comes following a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week that all vaccinated adults should receive a booster dose either six months after completing a Pfizer or Moderna series and two months after a Johnson & Johnson shot.

“The recent emergence of the Omicron variant further emphasizes the importance of vaccination, boosters and prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID-19,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. “Early data from South Africa suggest increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, and scientists in the United States and around the world are urgently examining vaccine effectiveness related to this variant. I strongly encourage the 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to vaccinate the children and teens in their families as well because strong immunity will likely prevent serious illness.”

New Mexico’s state public health policies have for months required that many workers in higher-risk environments – including workers in all health care and congregate-care settings – be vaccinated. Public school workers and state employees, meanwhile, must submit to weekly COVID-19 testing if they are not vaccinated.

The amended state public health order, issued Thursday by Acting Health Secretary David Scrase, will require those categories of workers to receive a booster shot. Those workers must receive a booster dose no later than January 17, 2022, or within four weeks of becoming eligible.

“New Mexico is doing well with boosters, better than the national average, but we still must do better,” Scrase said. “Our hospitals are overfull, and the spread of the virus continues to exacerbate the issue. New Mexico isn’t an island, and we can’t prevent the new variant from arriving here. So we must defend ourselves with the tools we know to work: Masks, vaccines, and personal decisions that serve to protect the collective well-being.”

State officials continued to promote vaccination during the Department of Health’s Wednesday update, with Scrase noting the average ages of hospitalization are 55.3 for unvaccinated and 70.2 for vaccinated New Mexicans, and the average age of people who die of COVID-19 at 64.9 among unvaccinated versus 78.9 for vaccinated.

In other COVID developments:

• The state reported 2,388 new COVID-19 cases Friday, including 48 in Curry County and 42 in Roosevelt County. None of the 14 reported deaths were from either county. Curry County did report a pair of COVID-19 deaths earlier in the week, one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. Both victims were identified as women in their 70s with underlying conditions who were hospitalized.

• State officials provided little information on the new Omicron variant, which wasn’t surprising as the variant has not been discovered in New Mexico. As of Saturday, 10 states had at least one Omicron case, with Colorado the only one bordering New Mexico. There is no actionable data on Omicron’s spread rate or vaccine resistance. The variant was designated as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization on Nov. 26.

• Curry County was one of 14 counties where an exposure to Ivermectin has been reported. The anti-parasitic agent has made the rounds on the Internet as a COVID-19 treatment, but the WHO has only recommended its use in clinical trials.

“It’s like taking antacid for a heart attack,” Scrase said. “It doesn’t work.”