Los Alamos: America’s Healthiest County Has a Formula for Battling COVID Tim Smart
With a doctorate in chemistry and a prior job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Cyndi Wells knew sooner than most the threat that COVID-19 posed for the country. As early as December 2019, as reports began surfacing of a virus in the Wuhan area in China, I kind of knew the storm was coming, she recalls.
Her pet supply store, which Wells opened in 2005 in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, while she still worked at the lab, would be considered an essential service, so she began prepping for keeping it open during a pandemic. We adopted masks quickly here, she says. Some of the bigger challenges were getting the supplies in. We got our hand sanitizer from a distillery that had pivoted to making hand sanitizer.
Los Alamos Vaccine Clinic/$100 Gift Card Incentive June 16
COUNTY News:
Register at the Los Alamos COVID-19 vaccine clinic scheduled for this Wednesday and receive a $100 gift card.
For the next four days, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) is running a vaccine incentive program to encourage New Mexico to reach its goal to fully vaccinate 60 percent of its population by June 17.
The incentive is a $100 gift card for every eligible New Mexican who either receives a COVID-19 booster of Pfizer or Moderna or the single dose Janssen vaccine between Monday, June 14 and Thursday, June 17.
To qualify for the $100, New Mexicans will be required to:
COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic For 2nd Dose Of Pfizer Sunday ladailypost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ladailypost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Los Alamos Passes 60% Milestone For COVID Vaccinations
COUNTY News:
Los Alamos County Emergency Manager Beverley Simpson announced Thursday afternoon that Los Alamos County has officially surpassed the 60 percent COVID-19 vaccine mark today with 61.1 percent of residents receiving both vaccinations.
“This is great news for our community,” Simpson said, “It’s a positive sign that we are continuing to head in the right direction and move into a post-pandemic stage of COVID-19 that will allow our businesses and our community to return to more of a day-to-day routine with fewer restrictions very soon.”
Simpson’s remarks reflected an announcement made at the end of April by the Governor that, as soon as 60 percent of eligible New Mexicans were fully vaccinated, New Mexico would be able to exit the color-coded county risk system and remove most pandemic-related restrictions on commercial activities. The State Department of Health had predicted with that announcement April
The Powerhouse Behind The County COVID Response - 10:35 am
Los Alamos County Emergency Manager Beverley Simpson at Sunday’s Mass Vaccination Clinic in Los Alamos High School’s Griffith Gymnasium. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Los Alamos is on day 414 of the COVID-19 pandemic, but since day one the County has had Emergency Manager Beverley Simpson helping it navigate and overcome this immense obstacle.
“I’m not sure what the County would have done without Beverley during this past year,” County Manager Harry Burgess said. “She has been an amazing asset to our entire community as she led us through our response to the pandemic, and as the event progressed she managed to shift her focus to implementing a very effective vaccination distribution. Los Alamos County is now ranked highest in our state for its portion of the population that have received the shot, and while we are appreciative of all the