artdirector@sfreporter.com
Morning Word
DOH warns of booster scam
Yesterday, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized a second COVID-19 vaccine booster from Pfizer and Moderna for people aged 50 years or older. Under the FDA, the second dose can be taken at least four months after receipt of a first booster dose of any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA also authorized a second booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine for people 12 years of age and older with certain kinds of immunocompromised conditions at least four months after a first booster, and a second booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at least four months after the first booster dose to people 18 years of age and older with the same certain kinds of immunocompromised conditions. “Current evidence suggests some waning of protection over time against serious outcomes from COVID-19 in older and immunocompromised individuals,” FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Dr. Peter Marks said in a statement. According to a weekly vaccination report released yesterday, over the last four weeks in New Mexico, 40.1% of COVID-19 cases were among people who had not completed a primary vaccination series; 24.8% were among those who had completed the series but had not received a booster; and 35.1% were among those who were fully vaccinated and boosted. For hospitalizations, those figures change to 65.1%, 16.7% and 18.2%. The percentages shift to 57.7%, 21.1% and 21.1% for fatalities.A New Mexico health department spokeswoman tells SFR the DOH will release information today on scheduling second booster shots after providing guidance to vaccine providers and “checking on vaccine availability.” Currently, 45.5% of residents 18 years and older have had a booster shot. In the meantime, DOH issued a warning yesterday of scam text messages being sent from a local number that offers help scheduling fourth COVID-19 vaccines and prompts individuals to fill out a form that includes their social security number.
State distributes $1 mil for job training
The state Economic Development Department awarded just over $1 million through its Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP) in March to 11 companies to hire and train 97 employees. Recipients include two Santa Fe businesses. Reflective Jewelry received $12,280 for one trainee at an average wage of $23.50. As described in a news release, the company is “rooted in a Southwestern design tradition,” and “resembles a kind of old-style shop that might have existed 50 years ago, but [has] also embraced the most modern techniques, including computer-generated CAD/CAM renderings used to create virtually any design imaginable.” Specifica Inc. received $17,188 for one trainee at an average wage: $30.05. The company “empowers companies that create cures with visionary antibody technologies. Drug-like antibodies with broad diversity, high affinities and few biophysical liabilities can be selected directly from their Generation 3 Antibody Library Platform without the need for downstream improvement.” The Specifica platform also is used “to carry out antibody discovery.” Six of the companies receiving funding operate in Albuquerque, including Lancs Industries Inc., which manufactures radiation shielding and received $178,930; aerospace company The Boeing Company, which received $55,230; and MTX Group Inc., described as a global technology consulting firm, and the recipient of $228,866 for 10 trainees.
Group ranks ABQ zoo one of the worst for elephants
The California-based In Defense of Animals group yesterday released its list of the top 10 worst US zoos for elephants, and named the ABQ BioPark the second worst of them all. According to the group, captivity damages elephants’ brains and it is calling for all zoos on the list to phase out their elephant displays. In the case of the Albuquerque zoo, IDA highlighted the deaths of three baby elephants at the zoo from endotheliotropic herpesvirus—EEHV—including two last winter. “Adorable babies are irresistible to the public and send ticket sales soaring,” the IDA says. “Financial motivations drive zoos like ABQ BioPark to pursue doomed breeding programs despite the high toll paid by elephants.” The group also criticized the BioPark’s elephant enclosure, describing it as “drab” and too closely placed to highway noise. Comedian Ricky Gervais released a statement calling upon zoos on the list to “urgently retire elephants to accredited sanctuaries so they may live their lives with dignity,” while musician Moby described the list as “a shocking alarm call exposing how elephants are suffering and dying. Zoos fail to meet elephants’ unique needs because it’s impossible to replicate their natural living environments.” Zoo officials, however, disputed IDA’s findings yesterday, with BioPark Associate Director Bob Lee saying: “Every day these animals get great care and every day we’re fighting for the survival of Asian elephants.”
COVID-19 by the numbers
New cases: 88; 517,608 total cases
Deaths: 15; Santa Fe County has had 261 deaths thus far; there have been 7,234 total fatalities statewide. Hospitalizations: 94; Patients on ventilators: six
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “community levels” tracking system—which uses case rates along with two hospital metrics in combination to determine the state of the virus on a county level—all 33 New Mexico’s counties currently have “green”—aka low—levels. The CDC updates its map every Thursday.
Vaccinations: 91% percent of adults 18 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 77.6% have completed their primary series; 45.5% of adults 18 years and older have had a booster shot; 12-17-year-old age group: 71.2% of people have had at least one dose and 61.6% have completed their primary series; Children ages 5-11: 39.3% have had at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 31% have completed their primary; Santa Fe County: 99% of people 18 and older have had at least one dose and 87.2% have completed their primary series.
Resources: Vaccine registration; Booster registration Free at-home rapid antigen tests; Self-report a positive COVID-19 test result to the health department; COVID-19 treatment info: oral treatments Paxlovid (age 12+) and Molnupiravir (age 18+); and monoclonal antibody treatments. Toolkit for immunocompromised individuals. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Listen up
The Where We Meet podcast’s mission is to foster conversations “from New Mexico and beyond,” with stories and interviews “reflecting the human experience, weaving connections of space, place, land and time.” Hosted by the Taos Center for the Arts and supported by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the most recent episode features an interview with Taos writer and painter Anita Rodriguez, who is also a mother, a construction worker and an enjarradora (master mud plasterer), talking about cultural representation, historic trauma and community work.
OG bat cave
Thrillist homes in on Carlsbad as part of its National Parks Uncovered series, holding up Carlsbad Caverns National Park as vastly superior to the “Dark Knight’s bougie bat cave.” After all, the magazine notes, “Gotham’s caped crusader might have butler service and more gadgets than James Bond, but that’s nothing compared to the serene majesty of these caves, where hundreds of thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats take up residence and help tick all the boxes for that quintessential caving experience.” Indeed. In addition to hosting unparalleled access to bats and a Bat Flight Program that kicks off in late May, Carlsbad Caverns also provides unique and—if you’re game—challenging hikes. The Natural Entrance Trail descends 750 feet below the desert’s surface along a winding 1.25-mile trail “roughly the equivalent of hiking the Empire State Building” (there’s also an elevator). That trek ends at the Big Room Trail, nicknamed “The Grand Canyon with a Roof Over It.” As Thrillist writes: “One glimpse at this spectacular subterranean wonderland will show you why: At nearly 4,000-feet long and 625-feet wide, it’s a mostly flat, wheelchair-accessible tour de force of cave formations with whimsical names like Rock of Ages, Giant Dome, Painted Grotto, and Fairyland. Along the way, you’ll pass crystal-clear cave pools and wooden ladders dangling into eerie black pits, and you half expect Gollum to scurry out at any moment.” There’s also plenty to do above ground, including hiking, eating and sightseeing.
Sow the seeds
More than 1,000 willows were planted along the Santa Fe River Trail last year through a joint project from the Santa Fe Watershed Association, the Rio Grande Return and the City of Santa Fe. With spring underway, the Rio Grande Return team will return to plant more willows and cottonwood poles downstream of Frenchy’s Bridge and will work their way down to Siler Bridge. According to a news release, the poles are planted using a deep boring auger, “meaning they have a better chance of accessing reliable groundwater as they establish. As they grow and flourish they will stabilize and beautify the river channel along the River Trail, provide wildlife habitat and sequester carbon, among many other services.” The public can help establish the new plantings by volunteering to help water today and tomorrow (March 30-31). Sign up here.
And perhaps after helping nurture growth along the River Trail, you’ll want to get going on your own garden. Be sure to visit the Southside Library, which reopened its seed library last weekend. Operated by the Santa Fe Extension Master Gardeners’ Seed Stewards, the seed library houses thousands of open-pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds donated by local growers and commercial seed companies. Patrons may “check out” up to five packets at no cost and you don’t need a library card. The Seed Library is available during the library’s regular open hours: 10 am to 6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday.
Out like a lion
Santa Fe has a chance for showers before noon today, according to the National Weather Service, and then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between noon and 3pm. It will be otherwise mostly cloudy, with a high near 55 degrees and “breezy,” with a southwest wind 10 to 15 mph becoming northwest 20 to 25 mph in the afternoon and possibly gusting as high as 35 mph.
Thanks for reading! Upon learning of the successful campaign to free The Charles Dickens’ museum from censorship on TikTok, due to the museum’s name including the word “dick,” The Word concluded we are most definitely not living in the best of times (it’s a great museum btw).
