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The New Mexico Department of Health announced last week a public health order aimed at expanding access to the COVID vaccine. On Friday NMDOH and the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy released updated protocols and recommendations in order to ensure as many people as possible have easy access to the vaccines.

State officials presented Wednesday to lawmakers details on a pilot program that will dispense medications for treating substance use disorder at public health offices. The New Mexico Department of Health has already been providing prescriptions to be filled elsewhere, but this is the first time they will be offering the medications themselves.

The New Mexico Department of Health announced Thursday a dog in Grant County tested positive for rabies. It’s the eighth animal in the state with a confirmed case this year. Although rabies is uncommon, it’s still one of the deadliest known viruses.

The New Mexico Department of Health issued a health advisory Monday to those who have captured or consumed wildlife from Holloman Lake in southern New Mexico. The warning follows a report on record levels of PFAS chemicals found in wildlife and plants in the area.

It’s commonly thought that suicide rates increase over the winter holidays, but that’s not the case. Still, the lead suicide prevention coordinator with the New Mexico Department of Health says it’s never the wrong time of year to talk about suicide and practice prevention.

The state Department of Health says only about 10% of New Mexicans got the updated vaccine last year, this year they are trying to smooth the process and clarify the messaging.

Though summer doesn’t officially begin until next week, temperatures are already hitting the triple digits across parts of New Mexico. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Thursday in the middle and lower Rio Grande Valley. A shelter in Socorro is seeking volunteers to help keep its cooling center open on these sweltering days.

A state fund for keeping members of the birthing workforce in their jobs is open for applications. The goal is to ensure there are enough practitioners to serve the state, which has struggled to provide accessible care.

Despite a decline in the number of flu cases in New Mexico at the start of the year, the state still has some of the highest levels in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Firearm deaths are increasing in New Mexico, nearly doubling in the course of a decade. That’s according to a new report from the New Mexico Department of Health, which released a report on gun violence that Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham called for in her executive order regarding gun violence in September.