Cases among vaccinated rising in New Mexico
As the coronavirus’s more infectious delta variant continues driving up caseloads and hospitalizations throughout New Mexico, increasing numbers of the ill and hospitalized are fully vaccinated people, state health officials said Wednesday.
Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said immunity to the virus begins to wane 5 ½ months after inoculation, which adds to the rise in so-called breakthrough infections.
They now make up 28 percent of new COVID-19 cases and 23 percent of hospitalizations.
“Some grim news today — things continue to get worse,” Scrase said at an online news conference. “We’re swimming in a sea of red,” State Epidemiologist Christine Ross said, referring to New Mexico’s color code for a dangerously high rate of spread.
The main factors causing the surge are the delta variant spreading faster, the vaccine’s efficacy wearing off — especially among those who were first to receive the shots — and people becoming laxer with COVID-19 precautions, Scrase said.
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/coronavirus/state-cases-among-vaccinated-rising-in-new-mexico/article_a9380fba-41c0-11ec-b3dc-67e9136aabd3.html