New Mexico health officials urge COVID-19 vaccine boosters, caution over holiday gatherings

Besides getting COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters, New Mexico health officials encouraged residents this week to think about health and safety as they plan events for the remaining winter holidays.

With the new year approaching, and on the anniversary of vaccinations against COVID-19 becoming available, New Mexico continued to weather a prolonged surge in transmission of the highly contagious delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

The recently identified omicron variant has been identified in New Mexico and 35 other states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but state health officials jumped to no conclusions about the new variant during a news conference on Wednesday.

"There's a lot we don't know about this new variant of concern," state epidemiologist Dr. Christine Ross said, "and at this point in time I really want to ask all New Mexicans to help us slow down the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19."

More: Omicron is spreading 'every place at once,' experts say. What it could mean for holiday plans.

As she elaborated, that includes rethinking large gatherings in order to reduce the risk of transmission to family and community members, bearing in mind that New Mexico's hospital network remains overwhelmed with patients despite a recent decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Ross also pressed residents to receive vaccines including booster doses for all eligible, to avoid crowded and poorly ventilated public spaces and to wear a properly fitting face mask indoors in public.

While the majority of COVID-19 cases recover with mild to moderate symptoms, more than 5,500 cases have proven fatal in New Mexico and health officials measured the case fatality rate at more than 1.6 percent. Some cases also entail long-term health complications.

Despite a high vaccination rate, with 63.5 percent of all eligible New Mexicans (including children) having completed a primary course of vaccine, the surge that began in July has persisted, with 7,953 cases reported the week of Dec. 6 through 13.

"We are tired of the masks. We are tired of not hanging out with our friends and family all the time," state Deputy Health Secretary Dr. Laura Parajón said, "but think about how we can still live with COVID and have a safe holiday."

More: New Mexico extends indoor mask mandate through Jan. 7

The physicians expressed some cheer over a recent increase in vaccine participation and the arrival, beginning Dec. 20, of mobile vaccination units provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Acting health Secretary Dr. David Scrase also called on businesses and event planners to consider public health in planning their events so as to maximize safety, highlighting a recent concert in Albuquerque that required spectators be vaccinated and wear masks, while performers were masked as well.

Making clear that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration remained opposed to reinstating capacity limits at businesses or closing schools, Scrase encouraged residents to reinforce safe behaviors by patronizing and thanking businesses exhibiting them.

"When you go into a business and you feel safe, give feedback," he said.

In his closing remarks, he challenged citizens to balance individual liberty with the public, specifically citing the strain on the state's healthcare system, where eight hospitals have enacted crisis standards of care due to unprecedented volumes of severely ill patients.

"I know we all want to have our own personal freedoms … but then we feel differently when we have to call 911, and we're in an emergency room for two days waiting for a hospital bed," Scrase said, adding: "The two are more connected, I think, than we sometimes realize."

COVID vaccines 'holding steady'

"People are being exposed and infected with the virus across a variety of settings and situations," Ross said, and the state health department indicated that breakthrough infections were rising fastest not among senior citizens, but adults from the ages of 18 through 49.

The physicians cautioned against premature conclusions about the omicron variant, given the lack of data so soon after it was identified by the World Health Organization on Nov. 26. They maintained it is too soon to tell whether omicron causes more severe disease or how well it eludes immunity from vaccines, though there are indications that it spreads rapidly.

For instance, omicron accounted for 2.9 percent of sequenced samples across the U.S. this week, Ross pointed out, compared to 0.4 percent the week before.

Ross said available data suggests that the vaccines currently in use were "holding steady" as far as preventing severe disease and death, especially when supplemented by a booster dose.

The health officials strongly advocated, once more, for vaccination and masking in public as essential layers in a public health defense against uncontrolled transmission of the disease.

Meanwhile, between Nov. 15 and Dec. 13, health department data found that 72 percent of new cases were among those who were not fully vaccinated, along with 81.2 percent of hospitalizations and 81.6 percent of the deaths.

Additionally, Scrase presented another datum in support of booster shots: "We know now that the risk of a vaccine breakthrough case if you've completed your vaccine series prior to June 1 is four times higher than if you completed your vaccine series after June 1."

Scrase acknowledged that the state's case fatality had declined, attributable to improvements in treatment options such as monoclonal antibody treatments, quicker turnaround on COVID-19 tests, and a shift wherein more cases are presented in younger age groups who suffer lower rates of severe disease and death.

Still, he said, "We're not going back to the old normal any time soon."

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico officials urge COVID booster shots, caution during holidays