Teachers will not be promoted in the vaccination distribution plan to accommodate school reopenings

ALBUQUERQUE, NM- Public schools in New Mexico will be allowed to offer face-to-face learning beginning February 8.

However, teachers will not be promoted in the vaccination distribution plan to accommodate reopening.

New Mexico Department of Health designated secretary, Dr. Tracie Collins, said the teachers remain in a Phase 1B subgroup, which is not yet eligible to receive the vaccine.

However, she reminded people during a virtual update on Wednesday that some teachers fall into an earlier phase of 1B that allows them to get the vaccine now.

‘Teachers who are going back to the classroom, in fact, if they are 75 or older, can be vaccinated, and many teachers have a chronic condition and fall into the first two subgroups of 1B,’ she said.

So why was the decision made to allow face-to-face learning to begin before all teachers could be vaccinated?

Dr. David Scrase, cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Department of Human Services, answered that question for a legislative education committee.

He said that these are data that show that schools are not a risk of oversizing as previously thought.

“We analyze all cases in schools,” he said. ‘At the peak, there were a total of 250 students and teachers in one week, which was November 2-9, which works for about 20 cases a day, and that was when we had 1,200 to 2,000 cases a day, so one very small number. ‘

Teachers fall into the phase 1B subgroup with other essential workers.

They will be the next group eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. However, no timetable has been provided for when the group should begin to be vaccinated. The state says it will depend on supply and demand.

Authorities say that approximately 900,000 new Mexicans are currently eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. However, the state received only about 316,000 vaccines. Almost 300,000 of these vaccines have already been administered.

New Mexico is one of the country’s leading states in terms of vaccine administration.

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