John Block

On Friday. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that she plans to “retire [the] color-coded, county-by-county system and all COVID-19 health restrictions on commercial and day-to-day activity in two weeks, allowing for the thousands of vaccinations administered this week as part of a statewide public health push to take full effect.”

According to a news release, “Beginning July 1, all pandemic-related occupancy restrictions on all forms of commercial activity will be lifted. All businesses across the state may once again operate at 100 percent of maximum capacity.”

The release added, “Businesses may still adopt and require additional precautions for employees and/or patrons, at their discretion, and are still advised to enact whatever social distancing and facemasking measures may be appropriate to ensure the health and safety of customers and staff, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.” 

But the Governor’s mask mandate remains in effect. “The state will continue to follow CDC guidance with respect to face-coverings: Masks will remain required for unvaccinated individuals, and businesses, workplaces and tribes may continue to require masks for employees, customers or visitors on the premises, regardless of vaccination status, at their discretion,“ the release said.

Despite New Mexico barely meeting the 60% threshold (getting 59.4% with $100 bribes and a $10 million lottery ploy) for vaccinated individuals which she has arbitrarily instituted, the governor is caving to the people and planning to reopen.

She made sure to shame New Mexicans though, saying, “Frankly, we need to be better than 60 percent fully vaccinated.

“The variants across the globe and in the U.S. present very serious risks to unvaccinated people, even young people. We all, each of us, have the power to stop the serious illnesses and deaths: Get your shot. It’s safe. It works. It’s that simple. Don’t wait for COVID to infect you or someone you love and wish you’d decided differently,” she added.

Then she blamed New Mexicans, not herself, for her slow-moving reopening plan, which is being beaten by even the far-left metropolises of New York and California.

“I know some will say this day is late in coming. I sure wish we’d gotten here sooner. I said all along: Vaccines are the way out, getting shots gets us there quicker. We were always going to put health and safety first. All along we have taken the approach that will protect the most New Mexicans, knowing the unique health risks of our population, understanding and respecting how dangerous this virus is. I believe, on the whole, New Mexicans made the right public health decisions in their day-to-day lives, following the science and helping us get to this point quickly and, more importantly, as safely as we possibly could.”

“We will continue to work with vaccine providers in and outside of New Mexico to be sure that every single vaccination is counted,” said Human Services Secretary David Scrase, M.D. “We are grateful to all New Mexicans who have stepped up to receive their shots and who have called us to provide their data. We believe our level of immunity is in fact greater than 60 percent, including the immunity of those in our state who have had COVID-19 and have not been vaccinated, and those who have had a mild infection as well. For all practical purposes, we have met the governor’s 60 percent goal, and we need to keep up our efforts to increase vaccinations and enhance good public health practices throughout the summer.”

“We are learning that just receiving the first of two vaccines in a series is not enough to protect you against some of the highly infectious variants,” said Health Secretary Tracie Collins, M.D. “So if you have had only one Pfizer or Moderna vaccination, please, schedule your booster shot today. And help us keep moving forward, and keep your family and your neighbors safe.”

After Lujan Grisham’s year-long lockdown, which decimated countless businesses and drove thousands of New Mexicans into poverty, she now is asking New Mexicans to send her to the Governor’s mansion for another term.

Her controversy-driven tenure as governor has been marked with scandal after scandal after scandal. From forcing through the most far-left extreme bills through the Legislature to paying off sexual accusers and her own daughter with campaign cash, and then “misplacing” $250 million in Workforce Solutions money, she has weakened her chance of reelection day after day. 

She repeatedly skirted her pandemic rules to buy luxury jewelry, used taxpayer funds for fine wine and $200/lb Wagyu beef steaks, berated local communities for not following her edicts, forced New Mexicans to stand in cold bread lines to get food and basic goods, fined churches and businesses tens of thousands of dollars for alleged non-compliance, removed the National Guard from the border and denied an immigration crisis, fired and hired cabinet secretaries on a dime, gave her staff hefty raises while New Mexicans lost everything, paid her daughter $6,000 from her campaign coffers for hair and makeup, and now is giving away $10 million of New Mexicans’ dollars through a “lottery” to bribe people to take the experimental virus inoculation.

It should be noted that Lujan Grisham announced this not by a press conference or a public forum where journalists could ask questions, but in a press release.