Damian Dovarganes / AP
Carlos Arrendondo arrives for his appointment to get vaccinated, as banners advertise the availability of the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines at a county-run vaccination site at the Eugene A. Obregon Park in Los Angeles Thursday, July 22, 2021. The top health official in Los Angeles County on Thursday implored residents to get vaccinated as the region experiences a coronavirus surge similar to last summer’s.
Friday, July 30, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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Officials in California, Hawaii and Chicago have issued warnings against travel to Las Vegas, and by the time you read this, others will have followed suit.
Downtown vaccine clinic
Circa is offering a free Pfizer vaccine clinic Monday and Tuesday for staff members, their children and the general public. The schedule is as follows:
Monday
• Location: Circa ballroom, located on the resort’s third level
• Time: 9-11 a.m.
• Those eligible: General public ages 21 and over; staff members of Circa, The D, Golden Gate and Downtown Las Vegas Events Center
Tuesday
• Location: Circa Human Resources, 231 S. Third St.
• Time: 3-5 p.m.
• Those eligible: Staff members of Circa, The D, Golden Gate and Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, as well as staff family members ages 12 through 21.
Both for Southern Nevadans and for unvaccinated Americans who are considering visiting our city, this should serve as a red-flag moment. It’s time to step up and be immunized, and for right-leaning leaders to stop the stream of misinformation and political propaganda that is fueling vaccine resistance.
Nobody wants to slide back toward the dreary days of 2020, and it doesn’t have to happen if everyone does their part to protect themselves, their loved ones and each other against COVID-19.
This can’t be repeated enough: The vaccinations offer safe and effective protection against a disease that has killed 628,000 Americans and left millions of others suffering from terrible short- and long-term effects. These include Alzheimer’s disease-like dementia, permanent heart damage, scarring of lung tissue, strokes, seizures and temporary paralysis.
Listen to Metro Police Sgt. Tom Jenkins, a COVID-19 survivor who appeared in a video released by the department to urge local residents to get their vaccinations. Jenkins, a self-described coronavirus skeptic who believed the risks of the virus had been vastly exaggerated and therefore refused to get his shots, described his suffering from the disease as like having a plastic bag taped over his head.
“It wasn’t the fear of dying — it was the fear of not being able to breathe,” said the 28-year Metro veteran who spent more than a week in the hospital battling a disease that “almost took me off this planet.”
“Go get the damn shot. Period,” Jenkins said.
Perfectly stated — for locals and visitors alike.
Yes, the vaccines have created side effects for a vanishingly small percentage of individuals who’ve received them. But given the virulence of the disease and its supercharged delta variant, not getting a vaccine carries a far, far greater health risk. The numbers don’t lie — among Americans, more than 90% of coronavirus infections and deaths were among unvaccinated individuals in July.
This danger isn’t limited to people without their shots, either. There have been so-called breakthrough cases of vaccinated individuals being infected, and there’s a possibility that vaccine-resistant variants could develop if vaccination numbers continue lagging.
We can’t put it more emphatically than this: Unvaccinated Americans are putting every single one of us in a precarious position. As a people we had a way out of this, but those who refuse vaccinations and the right-wing media supporting them are reversing our recovery. And it is all avoidable.
A glimmer of a silver lining comes in the news that vaccination rates are improving in states that have been particularly hard-hit by the delta variant, and some Republican leaders and media figures are finally doing the responsible thing and encouraging their followers to be vaccinated.
But after spending months creating a monster of vaccine resistance, the GOP needs a lot more voices and a lot more unity to get the problem under control. Too many on the right are still trading in lies, misinformation and fearmongering.
The bottom line is that this isn’t a political issue, it’s a public health threat that bleeds over into the economy. As many have said, the virus doesn’t discriminate between people of different parties when spreading to a new host. The only thing it cares about is finding new bodies in which to perpetuate itself.
Fortunately, leaders on the Las Vegas Strip understand this and are taking action. Witness downtown resort mogul Derek Stevens scheduling an upcoming vaccination event at his new Circa property (see insert) and MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle sending a letter to the company’s employees this week urging all unvaccinated staff members to get their shots.
Vaccinations are indeed the key to keeping our recovery on the right track, but unfortunately only 51% of Nevadans 12 and older have chosen to roll up their sleeves. That ranks us No. 34 in the nation.
But nationally, the situation isn’t a great deal better. Federal authorities say 57% of Americans 12 and older have been vaccinated.
These are infuriatingly low numbers, but especially in Las Vegas considering that we all saw the damage the disease can cause not only to our loved ones and neighbors but to our economy. We survived being at ground zero as one of the hardest-hit areas in the country, yet almost half of us won’t protect ourselves or each other from getting pounded again.
Enough. Speaking for all vaccinated Nevadans and Americans to the rest who haven’t been immunized, we’ll echo what Jenkins stated so effectively: Go get the damn shot.
