ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — New Mexico already has among the highest U.S. unemployment rates and state Republican legislative leaders said Thursday that they fear President Joe Biden’s plan to require vaccinations or COVID-19 testing for large employers could do more damage to the job market of the poverty-stricken state. New Mexico Senate Republican Leader Greg Baca said the mandate is sowing …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico residents who get vaccinated against COVID-19 will now be eligible for a $100 incentive. The New Mexico Department of Health over the weekend announced the reward for anyone who gets the second dose or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Thursday. State health officials are trying to reach a goal of having …

The wide availability of the COVID-19 vaccination to any Lea County resident could be here in six months. “I think that because of supply of the vaccine and the number of people who need to be vaccinated, it’ll still be May before we reach a level where most people can be vaccinated,” Nor-Lea Hospital CEO David Shaw said on Tuesday. …