State changes mask mandate

The New Mexico Department of Health announced on Friday that vaccinated individuals no longer will be required to wear masks in indoor or outdoor settings. Schools remain an exception because many children are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine.

The announcement came one day after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued similar guidance regarding fully vaccinated people.

Those not yet fully vaccinated still are required under public health orders to wear masks in public settings. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of either Pfizer or Moderna or their lone dose of Johnson & Johnson.

It wasn’t clear how or whether state officials might try to confirm who has been vaccinated.

“Getting vaccinated is the ticket to a safe and healthy COVID-free future,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a news release. “We are close and getting closer. But that all depends on New Mexicans continuing to protect themselves and their community by getting vaccinated – please find vaccines near you at vaccineNM.org and get your shot.”

New Mexico residents are encouraged to continue adhering to COVID-safe practices, the release stated.

All individuals, including those who are fully vaccinated, should continue to wear well-fitted masks where they are required by localities, tribal entities and individual businesses. The state supports businesses and workplaces that may continue to require masks for employees and/or customers on the premises, regardless of vaccination status.

CDC guidance still requires masks for all individuals at healthcare settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and public transportation.

Because a majority of students remain unvaccinated, the CDC’s guidance for school settings remains unchanged. Pending additional guidance from the CDC, masks continue to be required in schools for all students and school staff regardless of vaccination status.

The New Mexico Public Education Department also issued a statement Friday reiterating the mask mandate in schools.

“New Mexico’s public schools will continue requiring staff, educators, students and visitors to wear masks at all times except when eating or drinking,” a news release from the state agency stated. “Despite new mask guidance Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the mask requirement is unchanged for school settings for now due to the potential spread of COVID-19 among unvaccinated students.”

Mass-gathering limits and the statewide framework remain in place. As previously announced by the governor and state officials, New Mexico will graduate from the color-coded county risk system and remove most pandemic-related restrictions on commercial activities when 60% of eligible New Mexicans have been fully vaccinated.

Through Friday, 51.7% of eligible New Mexicans had been fully vaccinated.

Vaccination rates in Quay County continued to inch up slowly. According to the state database, 32.6% of county residents were fully vaccinated, an increase of one percentage point from the previous week.

The percentage of county residents who received at least one shot of vaccine was 37.9%, an increase of 0.5% from the previous week.

C. Renee Hayoz, administrator of the Quay County Family Health Center in Tucumcari, surmised county vaccination rates are under-reported because a substantial number of residents get their medical care in Amarillo.

She also noted Amarillo had its convention center open for several weeks for walk-up patients to get the vaccine.

“I believe the number is low (in the county), yes,” Hayoz said. “But a third is better than nothing.”

Other counties in southeast New Mexico also are laggards in vaccination rates. As an example, Roosevelt County has the state’s lowest full vaccination rate, at 24.4%, possibly because many residents travel to Lubbock for medical treatment.

States typically do no share their vaccination data with other states, a New Mexico Department of Health spokesman said earlier this month. The only way that data can be updated is when patients provide it to local health providers, Hayoz said.

Quay County also may be a laggard because only the Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for children age 12 and older. Hayoz said local health facilities lack the ultra-cold storage units to keep that vaccine.

She said she hopes the Moderna vaccine, which can be stored in more typical refrigerators and freezers, will be authorized for children soon.

President Joe Biden’s administration has publicly stated it wants all children age 2 and up to be vaccinated by September.

Hayoz’s clinic had planned an event early this week with the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The clinic had 100 doses of it and needed to use them before they expire in mid-June.

The Quay County Public Health Office continues to hold weekly vaccination events on Wednesdays at the Tucumcari Convention Center. It also injected 29 people last week during an event at the Annex Bar & Grill in Logan.

All New Mexicans age 16 and older are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine and may schedule their vaccine appointment at vaccineNM.org or by calling 1-855-600-3453.

Parents of New Mexicans age 12 to 15 may register their child for the approved Pfizer vaccine at vaccineNM.org.

The Eastern New Mexico News contributed to this report.