New Mexico Register / Volume XXXII,
Issue 16 /August 24, 2021
PUBLIC HEALTH ORDER
NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
ACTING SECRETARY DAVID R. SCRASE, M.D.
August 17, 2021
Public Health Emergency Order Requiring All School Workers Comply with Certain
Health Requirements and Requiring Congregate Care Facility Workers,
Hospital Workers, and
Employees of the Office of the Governor Be Fully Vaccinated
WHEREAS, on January 30, 2020, the World
Health Organization announced the
emergence of a novel Coronavirus Disease 20 19 ("COVID-19") that had
not previously circulated in humans, but has been found to have adopted to
humans such that it is contagious and easily spread from one person to another
and one country to another;
WHEREAS, COVID- 19 has been confirmed in New Mexico since March 11, 2020, when
the New Mexico Department of Health confirmed the first cases of individuals
infected with COVID- 19 in New Mexico and additional cases have been confirmed
each day since then;
WHEREAS, on March 11, 2020, because of the spread of COVID-19,
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued Executive Order 2020-004 declaring that
a Public Health Emergency exists in New Mexico under the Public Health
Emergency Response Act, and invoked her authority under the NI Hazards
Emergency Management Act;
WHEREAS, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has renewed the
declaration of a Public Health Emergency through September 15, 2021;
WHEREAS, over 36 million people have been infected with COVID-19 in
the United States, with over 615,000 related deaths, and the New Mexico
Department of Health has repo1ted 220,000 positive COVID-19 cases and 4,450
related deaths in New Mexico;
WHEREAS, the currently available COVID-19 vaccines are safe and the
most effective way of preventing infection, serious illness, and death;
WHEREAS, widespread vaccination protects New Mexico' s health care
system as vaccines decrease the need for emergency services and
hospitalization;
WHEREAS, the refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine not only
endangers the individual but the entire community, and further jeopardizes the
progress the State has made against the pandemic by allowing the virus to
transmit more freely and mutate into more transmissible or deadly variants;
WHEREAS, one such highly transmissible variant, B.1.617.2, commonly
known as the Delta variant, now accounts for the majority of new infections in
the United States;
WHEREAS, New Mexico has recorded a significant increase in new
COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, with cases expected to rise even further in the
Fall and Winter months;
WHEREAS, the further spread of COVID-19 in the State of New Mexico
poses a threat to the health, safety, and wellbeing of children who are not yet
eligible to receive a vaccine; persons who cannot be vaccinated due to medical
reasons; immunocompromised individuals; and vulnerable persons including
persons in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other congregate care
facilities; and
WHEREAS, the New Mexico Department of Health possesses legal authority
pursuant to the Public Health Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 24-1-1 to -40, the
Public Health Emergency Response Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 12-l0A-1 to -19, the
Department of Health Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 9-7-1 to -18, and inherent
constitutional police powers of the New Mexico state government, to preserve
and promote public health and safety, to maintain and enforce rules for the
control of a condition of public health importance, and issue rules for
immunization against conditions of public health importance.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, David R. Scrase,
M.D., Acting Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Health, in accordance
with the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the Laws of the State
of New Mexico, and as directed by the Governor pursuant to the full scope of
emergency powers under the All Hazard Emergency Management Act, do hereby
declare the current outbreak of COVID-19 a condition of public health importance,
as defined in NMSA 1978, Section 24-l-2(A), and hereby ORDER and DIRECT as follows:
DEFINITIONS
For
the purposes of this Order, the following term shall have the meaning given to
them, except where the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1) "Congregate care facility"
means nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult day cares, hospice
facilities, rehabilitation facilities, State correctional facilities, juvenile
justice facilities, residential treatment centers, the New Mexico State
Veterans' Home, and community homes.
(2) "Congregate care facility
worker" means any paid or unpaid individuals working in a congregate care
facility. This includes workers providing services who have the potential for
direct or indirect exposure to patients or residents in a congregate care
facility. A congregate care facility worker includes contractors who perform
services on-site at the congregate care facility.
(3) "Fully vaccinated" means
two weeks after an individual completed the entire recommended series of
vaccination with a vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
including on an emergency use basis, to prevent COVID-19. An individual will be
fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or
Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. An individual will be fully vaccinated two weeks
after a single-dose Johnson and Johnson's Jassen COVID-19 vaccine.
(4) "Hospital" means any public
hospital, profit or nonprofit private hospital, general hospital, or special
hospital.
(5) "Hospital Worker" means all
paid and unpaid individuals who work on-site in a hospital in a setting where
care is provided to patients or patients have access for any purpose. This includes workers who have the potential
for direct or indirect exposure to patients or COVID- 19 airborne aerosols. Hospital workers include, but are not limited to,
nurses, physicians nursing assistants, technicians, therapists, phlebotomists,
pharmacists, students and trainees, contractual staff not employed by the
hospital, and persons not directly involved in patient care, but who could be
exposed to infection agents that can be transmitted in the hospital (e.g.
clerical, dietary, environmental services, laundry, security, and volunteer
personnel).
(6) "School worker" means all
paid and unpaid adults serving in a private school, public school, or charter
school.
(7) "Qualifying medical
condition" means a permanent or temporary medical condition recognized by
the FDA or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a
contra-indication to COVID-19 vaccination.
DIRECTIVES
I HEREBY DIRECT AS FOLLOWS:
(1) Beginning Monday August 23, 2021, all
school workers in any private school, public school, or charter school who are
not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or are unwilling to provide proof of
vaccination to their respective supervisors shall:
a. Provide adequate proof that the
school worker has tested negative for COVID-19 on a weekly basis; and
b. Wear a mask or multilayer cloth
face covering at all times indoors during the course and scope of their
employment except when eating or drinking. An unvaccinated school worker will only be
exempt from wearing a mask indoors if adequate proof is provided that the
school worker has been instructed otherwise by a licensed healthcare provider.
(2) All private schools, public schools,
and charter schools shall maintain records of school worker vaccination status
in accordance with applicable privacy laws and regulations. The records
regarding a worker's vaccination status shall be provided to the Department of
Health promptly upon request.
(3) All hospital workers, congregate care
facility workers, and employees of the Office of the Governor Michelle Lujan
Grisham are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they
qualify for an exemption. If an
individual does not qualify for an exemption, the individual shall:
a. Receive the first dose of a
COVID-19 vaccine within 10 days of the effective date of this Order and their
second dose within 40 days of their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine; and
b. Provide proof of vaccination to the
appropriate person or supervisor:
i. Hospital workers and congregate
care facility workers shall provide proof of vaccination or exemption to their
respective supervisors.
ii. Contractors who are hospital
workers shall provide proof of vaccination to the operator of the hospital in
which the contractor provides on-site services.
iii.
Employees of the Office of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham shall provide proof
of vaccination to the Chief Operations Officer.
(4) The workers subject to Section (3) of
this Order may be exempt from the COVID- 19 vaccination requirement set forth
above if they have a qualifying medical condition which imm1mization would
endanger their health, or they are entitled under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), or any other applicable law to a
disability-related reasonable accommodation or a sincerely held religious
belief accommodation. Nothing in this
Order precludes the entities which employ or contract with these workers from
providing disability-related reasonable accommodations and religious
accommodations to the requirements of this Order as required by law.
a. To be eligible for an exemption due
a qualifying medical condition, the individual must provide their employer or
operator of the facility they contract with a statement from a physician, nurse
practitioner, or other medical professional licensed to practice in New Mexico
stating that the individual qualifies for the exemption and indicating the
probable duration of the individual's inability to receive the vaccine;
b. To be eligible for an exemption due
to a disability, the individual must provide their employer or the operator of
the hospital or congregate care facility they contract with accommodation
documentation from a physician, nurse practitioner, or other medical
professional licensed to practice in New Mexico stating that the individual has
a disability that necessitates an accommodation and the probable duration of
the need for the accommodation; or
c. To be eligible for an exemption due
to a sincerely held religious belief, the individual must document that the
request for an accommodation has been made and provide their employer or the
operator of the facility they contract with a statement regarding the manner in
which the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine conflicts with the religious
observance, practice, or belief of the individual.
(5) If an operator of a hospital,
operator of a congregate care facility, or the Office of Governor Michelle
Lujan Grisham determines a worker to have met the requirements of an exemption
pursuant to Section (4), the unvaccinated exempt worker shall:
a. Provide adequate proof that the
individual has tested negative for COVID- 19 on a weekly basis; and
b. Wear a mask or multilayer cloth
face covering at all times indoors at the hospital or congregate care facility
except when eating or drinking. An unvaccinated worker will only be exempt from
wearing a mask indoors if adequate proof is provided that the individual has
been instructed otherwise by a licensed healthcare provider.
(6) The operator of a hospital, operator
of a congregate care facility, and the Office of Governor Michelle Lujan
Grisham shall maintain records of all workers' vaccination or exemption status
in accordance with applicable privacy laws and regulations. If a worker is exempt pursuant to Section (4),
then the operator or employer also must maintain records of the worker's
testing results pursuant to Section (5). The records regarding a worker's vaccination
or exemption status shall be provided to the Department of Health promptly upon
request.
(7) Hospital workers, congregate care
facility workers, and employees of the Office of the Governor Michelle Lujan
Grisham shall provide proof of vaccination or records of their exemption status
to the Department of Health if requested.
(8) All persons who are eligible to
receive a COVID-19 vaccine and enter the grounds of the New Mexico State Fair
from September 9-19, 2021 must provide adequate proof of being fully vaccinated
against COVID-19 to a State Fair official unless the individual qualifies for
an exemption. A person may be exempt
from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement set forth in this section if they
have a qualifying medical condition which immunization would endanger their
health, or they are entitled under the ADA, Title VII, or any other applicable
law to a disability related reasonable accommodation or a sincerely held
religious belief accommodation. Nothing
in this Order precludes the New Mexico State Fair from providing
disability-related reasonable accommodations and religious accommodations to
the requirements of this Order as required by law. The requirements for an exemption are as
follows:
a. To be eligible for an exemption due
a qualifying medical condition, the individual must provide a State Fair
official with a statement from a physician, nurse practitioner, or other
medical professional licensed to practice in New Mexico stating that the
individual qualifies for the exemption and indicating the probable duration of
the individual's inability to receive the vaccine;
b. To be eligible for an exemption due
to a disability, the individual must provide a State Fair Official with
accommodation documentation from a physician, nurse practitioner, or other
medical professional licensed to practice in New Mexico stating that the
individual has a disability that necessitates an accommodation and the probable
duration of the need for the accommodation; or
c. To be eligible for an exemption due
to a sincerely held religious belief, the individual must document that the
request for an accommodation has been made and provide a State Fair official a
statement regarding the manner in which the administration of a COVID-19
vaccine conflicts with the religious observance, practice, or belief of the
individual.
(9) If a State Fair official determines
an individual entering the grounds of the New Mexico State Fair has met the
requirements of an exemption pursuant to Section (8), the unvaccinated
individual shall provide adequate proof that they have tested negative for
COVID- 19 within 48 hours prior to entering the fair grounds.
(10) New Mexico State Fair officials shall
maintain records of the vaccination or exemption status of all persons entering
the grounds New Mexico State Fair in accordance with applicable privacy laws
and regulations. The records regarding
an individual's vaccination or exemption status shall be provided to the
Department of Health promptly upon request. All individuals entering the grounds of the
New Mexico State Fair shall provide proof of vaccination or records of their
exemption status and negative test to the Department of Health, if requested.
I FURTHER DIRECT as follows:
(1) This Order shall be broadly disseminated in English,
Spanish and other appropriate languages to the citizens of the State of New
Mexico.
(2) Nothing in this Order is intended to
restrain or preempt local authorities from enacting more stringent restrictions
than those required by the Order.
(3) The New Mexico Department of Health, the New Mexico
Department of Public Safety, the New Mexico Public Education Department and all
other State departments and agencies are authorized to take all appropriate
steps to ensure compliance with this Order.
(4) Any person, hospital, or congregate care facility who
willfully violates this Order may be subject to civil administrative penalties
available at law.
(5) This Order shall take effect on August 17, 2021 and remain
in effect for the duration of the public health emergency first declared in
Executive Order 2020-004 and any subsequent renewals of that public health
emergency declaration, unless otherwise rescinded.
ATTEST:
DONE AT THE
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
THIS 17TH DAY OF AUGUST 2021
/ S
/
WITNESS MY HAND AND THE GREAT
MAGGIE TOULOUSE OLIVER SEAL OF
THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
SECRETARY OF STATE
/ S /
DAVID
R. SCRASE, M.D.
ACTING SECRETARY OF THE
NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH