New Mexico health official to detail vaccination rollout
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 4 years, 11 months AGO
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins was scheduled to provide an update on vaccine distribution during a briefing Wednesday.
State officials say they’ve been making plans on how to prioritize groups of people once more doses arrive in the state and more details were expected in the coming days.
New Mexico has been among the leading states in terms of distributing vaccinations so far, and officials say getting more people registered will help with future phases.
The vaccine rollout comes as the state continues to crack down on businesses for violating the public health order. State officials announced Tuesday that O’Reilly Automotive Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $79,200 in penalties after one of its auto parts stores in Santa Fe received two citations following multiple citizen complaints.
It is believed to be the largest penalty related to coronavirus public health violations issued by the state Environment Department so far, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
Inspectors with the agency's Occupational Health and Safety Bureau cited the store for failing to enforce the use of masks by employees and for failing to post signs requiring the use of masks after an inspection in July. Officials said subsequent inspections determined store management corrected the violations.
O’Reilly initially contested the penalties but later agreed to a settlement that does not admit to a violation.
“Failure by employers to protect staff from COVID-19 — a known workplace hazard — is unacceptable,” Cabinet Secretary James Kenney said in a statement. “Employers must take their worker protection responsibility seriously or they will face robust enforcement action by the state of New Mexico.”
Mark Merz, O'Reilly’s vice president of investor relations, financial reporting and planning, said O’Reilly’s has a companywide policy “to fully comply with all state, federal and local ordinances related to COVID.” He declined to comment further when asked if the store had violated that policy, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
The Environment Department said it's currently investigating more than 200 workplace safety complaints related to COVID-19 and more than a dozen workplace-related COVID-19 deaths.
The state has recorded nearly 150,000 confirmed COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began. State officials have linked nearly 2,600 deaths in New Mexico to the virus.