{"id":581720,"date":"2021-12-06T17:57:36","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T22:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/?post_type=article&p=581720"},"modified":"2021-12-07T16:51:30","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T21:51:30","slug":"new-mexico-requires-school-staff-booster-shots-as-omicron-fears-fuel-nationwide-vaccination-spike","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/new-mexico-requires-school-staff-booster-shots-as-omicron-fears-fuel-nationwide-vaccination-spike\/","title":{"rendered":"New Mexico Requires School Staff Booster Shots as Omicron Fears Fuel Nationwide Vaccination Spike"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Updated Dec. 7<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In what may be a national first, New Mexico issued a Dec. 2 order<\/a> requiring that all school staff receive coronavirus booster shots or submit to weekly testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state was already enforcing a vaccinate-or-test rule for K-12 workers and other state employees, but due to concern surrounding the recently identified Omicron variant, the state announced that it will require school staff to up their immunity with an extra shot of the vaccine by Jan. 17, 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Booster shots, infectious disease specialists believe, are the best defense<\/a> against the new strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe recognize the gravity of the situation,\u201d Nora Sackett, press secretary for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, told The 74. \u201cFor folks who are fully vaccinated, they are now required to get their booster shot, if they\u2019re eligible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Nov. 29, 85 percent of school staff had been fully vaccinated, according to the state Public Education Department. K-12 employees who are unvaccinated, or who have two doses but choose not to receive a third, must undergo weekly testing for the virus, she explained. If staff are non-compliant with the testing regimen, individual school districts will decide on repercussions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only about 9 percent of school staff reported having received a booster shot as of Dec. 7, meaning the vast majority of vaccinated K-12 employees still must submit documentation of a third dose by Jan. 17 in order to avoid the state\u2019s weekly testing regimen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of schools, the order requires third doses with no testing opt-out for New Mexico\u2019s health care workers. It\u2019s the first booster mandate in the nation that the data team behind the COVID policy tracker Burbio<\/a> has identified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t seen it anywhere else,\u201d Burbio co-founder Dennis Roche told The 74. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While numerous districts, including Chicago, gave teachers a day off to get their third shots, he said, \u201cwe have not seen [boosters] mandated until we saw it in New Mexico.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sackett, also, said she was not aware of any other states having such a policy on the books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The news release<\/a> published by the governor\u2019s office includes multiple paragraphs outlining the threats posed by the Omicron variant, which seem to have motivated the announcement.  The new COVID strain has been detected in at least 17 U.S. states<\/a>, with cases continuing to increase, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late November, the World Health Organization named the Omicron strain a \u201cvariant of concern\u201d just days after it was first identified. Its high number of mutations \u2014 including three times<\/a> more than the Delta strain on the protein used to latch onto cells \u2014 raises alarm for officials. But scientists have yet to determine whether the new version of the virus is indeed more transmissible or better able to evade the protections provided by existing vaccines. More clarity will arrive in the coming weeks<\/a>, experts say. For now, the Delta variant remains the dominant coronavirus strain in the U.S. and is responsible for the vast majority of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CDC last Monday strengthened its language<\/a> on booster doses to recommend that all adults \u201cshould,\u201d rather than \u201cmay,\u201d receive a third shot six months after their second. A day later, Pfizer CEO and Chairman Albert Bourla announced that his pharmaceutical company requested authorization<\/a> from the Food and Drug Administration to extend eligibility for third doses to 16- and 17-year olds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n