COVID-19 Vaccine Update

Cashman Center Vaccine Appointments Booked Through Today; Appointments for Next Week To Be Available Soon at www.SNHD.info

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 21, 2021

Click-to-Tweet: Local COVID-19 vaccination efforts are expanding. People in eligible groups can register via www.SNHD.info/covid for appointments at local sites: https://cms8.revize.com/revize/clarknv/news_detail_T28_R239.php

Clark County, the Southern Nevada Health District, local cities, the Nevada National Guard, UNLV and other community partners are rapidly expanding efforts to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to prioritized populations of the public based on available vaccine supplies and U.S. Center for Disease Control recommendations and updated state guidelines. Health care and public safety workers continue to be prioritized at local vaccination sites. Clinic appointments are now available for people age 70 and older. Currently, a limited number of appointments are available on the Health District’s website. More dates and times are being added to the calendar to book a limited number of appointment time slots.

“With the help of our many community partners, we are moving full steam ahead to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to as many people as possible based on available vaccine supplies,” said Clark County Commission Chairman Marilyn Kirkpatrick. “The sooner we can get large numbers of people vaccinated, the faster we can put this pandemic behind us. We are making good progress getting our front-line public safety workers immunized and we are opening up more opportunities for seniors to receive the vaccine. We also are working with partners throughout the valley to build capacity to eventually offer the COVID-19 vaccine to anyone in our community who wants it just as we did with COVID-19 testing.”

Officials stress the need for people in priority groups to book vaccine appointments online through the Health District’s website and to arrive at their scheduled times to ensure efficient operations at the vaccination sites and to maximize delivery of available vaccine supplies. Officials also urge the public to be patient because a limited supply of vaccine arrives each week. “Our overarching goal is to provide vaccine to everyone who wants it as quickly and as safely as possible,” said Dr. Fermin Leguen, Acting Chief Health Officer for the Southern Nevada Health District. “Our efforts are contingent on our available resources, including the amount of vaccine we receive each week. We appreciate the public’s support and patience as we expand our testing sites and the availability of appointments.”

Locations of vaccination clinics are listed on the Southern Nevada Health District’s vaccine distribution page at www.SNHD.info/covid along with appointment scheduling information. Sites offering appointment slots for seniors are noted. Today, the location offering appointments for seniors is the Health District’s building at 280 S. Decatur Blvd. The Western High School clinic at 4601 W. Bonanza Road is only open to health care workers at this time. Starting Thursday, Cashman Center Exhibit Hall B located at 850 N. Las Vegas Blvd., just south of the COVID-19 testing area in Hall A, will offer vaccinations to public safety workers as part of a pilot program for a larger mass vaccination effort.

“We learned a lot building our COVID-19 testing program from scratch, and we are applying that knowledge to our efforts at Cashman,” said Clark County Fire Chief John Steinbeck, who oversees Clark County’s Office of Emergency Management. “We are starting with vaccinations of our public safety workers to get our processes in place, and expect to be able to expand to additional groups soon. We also plan to open other vaccination centers throughout Southern Nevada as staffing and the vaccination supply chain permit.”

“I want to thank our Fire Department and community partners for standing up the Cashman Center to serve as the model for a mass vaccination site in our community,” said Clark County Commissioner William McCurdy II, whose Commission District includes the Cashman Center. “The location is ideal because it’s in the center of the Las Vegas Valley and people are used to going there for COVID-19 testing. The public can rest assured that we are dedicated to building a robust vaccination delivery system in our community to ensure we get our economy open and people back to work. We ask people to be patient as we work through some of the challenges involved with setting up the such a large-scale effort.”

“I want to thank all our partners for their work in getting all the logistics together to ensure that we can safely and effectively roll out the vaccine to those who are most vulnerable,” Las Vegas City Councilman Cedric Crear said. “I am happy that the Cashman Complex can play a key role in our preparedness efforts and I look forward to additional dosages becoming available so that the entire community can eventually be vaccinated.”

UNLV and the cities of North Las Vegas and Henderson also have vaccination efforts under way for priority groups. People who work in health care and public safety can also schedule vaccination appointments at UNLV through the Health District’s website. Questions about the UNLV location should be sent to coronavirus@unlv.edu. North Las Vegas is partnering with the Southern Nevada Health District and the Clark County School District to pre-register residents ages 70 and over for vaccinations online at VaxNLV.com. Vaccines for that age group will begin soon. Pre-registration for the general public for future tier vaccinations will open Saturday. “It is crucial that we do everything we can to ramp up vaccination efforts,” North Las Vegas City Councilman and Southern Nevada Health District Board Chairman Scott Black said. “In North Las Vegas, we have long been prepared to step in and help, and we are ready to assist in the effort to keep people healthy and get Southern Nevada open for business.”

As of Jan. 11, there have been 28,978 COVID-19 vaccines administered in Clark County. The first vaccines were distributed on Dec. 14, 2020. To date, the Health District has received 70,450 doses of COVID-19 vaccine for distribution in Clark County. Updated information about COVID-19 vaccines and other resources are available on the Health District’s COVID website and at NVHealthResponse.nv.gov, which also includes the state’s recently updated COVID-19 Vaccination Playbook. Health officials encourage people to keep doing the recommended actions that help reduce the spread of COVID-19:

Wear face coverings in public and among people who don’t live in the same household.
Stay home if you are sick or have had contact with someone who is sick.
Get a flu shot to help reduce potential impacts on the local health care system as the community continues to deal with increased COVID-19 caseloads.
Maintain at least 6 feet social distancing per person from non-household members.
Limit private gatherings to fewer than 10 people from no more than two households.
Consult these resources for help dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Nevada 2-1-1 – Provides resource referrals to those in need of social service support.
- Southern Nevada Health District INFO Phone Line – (702) 759-INFO (4636), 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, for general questions about COVID-19.
- Esta En Tus Manos – Spanish COVID-19 outreach effort: https://estaentusmanosnevada.com/.

The Southern Nevada Health District serves as the local public health authority for Clark County, Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas, Mesquite and North Las Vegas. The agency safeguards the public health of the community’s residents and visitors through innovative programs, regulations, and initiatives focused on protecting and promoting their health and well-being. More information about the Health District, its programs, services, and the regulatory oversight it provides is available at www.SNHD.info. Follow the Health District on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.