Recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (2/24/21 edition)
- The state Department of Health reported 314 new cases of COVID-19 and nine additional deaths related to the disease on Tuesday.
- The state of New Mexico has exceeded the 500,000 mark when it comes to administering doses of COVID-19 vaccination, the state’s Department of Health announced on Tuesday.
“New Mexicans can be proud: thanks to a first-in-the-nation registration system and a dedicated network of health care providers and volunteers across our state, we are vaccinating our population extraordinarily quickly,” DOH Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins said in a statement. “We are doing so because we recognize the toll this virus has taken – more than half a million American lives, including more than 3,600 New Mexicans. We seek to move New Mexico beyond this pandemic as rapidly as possible.”- Drug manufacturers said they expected to have roughly double the current number of available vaccines by April—not including the possibility of more vaccines from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that could receive an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration soon—Politico reported
- In all, the DOH has reported administering 506,384 doses as of Tuesday, including 331,496 first doses and 174,888 second doses. The pace of vaccinations fell off, and is at 55,070 in the last seven days.
- On Tuesday, Navajo Nation health officials reported 20 new cases of COVID-19 and seven additional deaths related to the disease.
- As of Monday, 21 Navajo Nation communities were on its list for uncontrolled spread, the Farmington Daily Times reported.
- A major limiting factor, the Las Cruces Sun-News wrote, is the lack of supply.
- KUNM-FM covered an app to provide remote addiction support during physical isolation during COVID-19.
- A teacher who got a vaccine despite not being in the current vaccination eligibility phase because the teacher was likely on a waiting list for vaccines that would have expired, DOH told KRQE-TV.
- Schools in the Mora Independent School District and Pecos Independent School District returned to in-person learning through the hybrid model, the Las Vegas Optic reported.
- The mayor of Mountainair criticized the state’s county-by-county COVID-19 reopening plans, KRQE-TV reported.
- Some music teachers want the state to allow in-person band practice to be allowed, KOB-TV reported.
- KOB-TV reported on a study that appears to show that the spread of COVID-19 to teachers is largely from teacher-to-teacher, not spread from students.
- A new turf grass “championship” field could be the home of New Mexico United home games this year if they are not allowed to have fans attend, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
This article was originally posted on Recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (2/24/21 edition)