Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021 | 10:30 p.m.
Employees of Nevada’s universities and colleges who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 will be terminated on Friday.
The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents considered altering a policy requiring the vaccination during an emergency meeting tonight but were deadlocked at a 6-6 vote to keep the mandate in play.
That means 379 of about 21,000 NSHE employees will be terminated on Friday for failing to receive the vaccine.
The board on Sept. 30 approved an emergency policy change requiring employees to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 1, or to provide an approved medical or religious exemption. Anyone not vaccinated by Friday would be terminated.
Last week, however, the Nevada State Legislative Commission voted not to continue with an emergency order from the state Board of Health requiring college students to be vaccinated for the upcoming spring semester. That prompted Regents Cathy McAdoo, Byron Brooks, Patrick Boylan, Patrick Carter and Laura Perkins to request a special meeting to determine if the commission’s ruling changed anything for employees.
Those who voted in favor of keeping the requirement: Jason Geddes, Mark Doubrava, Donald Sylvantee McMichael Sr., John T. Moran, Carol Del Carlo and Amy Carvalho.
Those against: Brooks, Boylan, Carter, McAdoo, Perkins and Joseph Arrascada. Regent Lois Tarkanian was absent.
The board heard from dozens of students and faculty members, the majority of whom were in favor of keeping the mandate.
“The decisions we are facing are about how to operate a college university during a pandemic, and nothing more,” said Dr. Brian Labus, assistant professor at UNLV’s School of Public Health and member of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s Medical Advisory Team. “We can’t control the community, but we can control what happens on our campuses.”
The eight presidents of NSHE’s institutions sent a letter in support of keeping the mandate in place, and a petition of more than 3,000 student signatures was also sent in support.
“We have a safe, effective, fully approved, fully FDA-approved vaccine,” Labus said. “Any arguments to the contrary are not supported by studies, facts or any other worldwide experience to date.”
But Brooks and Carter spoke against the policy, saying the board would be out of sync with the Legislative Commission’s decision and that they see an ethical problem with firing employees when students don’t have to do the same thing.
Perkins opposed keeping the provision in place because it would be permanent, although NSHE Deputy General Counsel Yvonne Nevarez-Goodson said the provision would be discussed by the board within 180 days.
“I take issue with an employee being terminated for not being vaccinated when the student mandate was dropped,” Brooks said. “It’s about equitability.”
Boylan asked why people who are vaccinated are worried about those who aren’t. Labus responded with an analogy, saying that just because he soberly drives a safe car with seatbelts and airbags, does not mean that he wants others to drive drunk, as he could still get hit.
“It goes beyond just individuals,” Labus said. “That’s why we are concerned about us as a population.”
University presidents encouraged keeping the mandate in place, saying they’ve followed protocols to comply with the board’s earlier mandate and flipping the decision would send mixed messages.
“We have been talking about this since Oct. 15,” said Kyle Dalpe, provost and senior vice president of Western Nevada College. “We are at the 11th hour. I appreciate the board discussing it, but we have had people who have gotten the vaccine who didn’t necessarily want to but realized they should in order to maintain employment. … On the flip side we’ve had others who have not and already left. There’s a mixed bag there.”
Additionally, the regents voted 10-2 to authorize Chancellor Melody Rose to send a letter in support of COVID-19 vaccinations for students to governmental bodies with jurisdiction to impose vaccine requirements, including the Governor’s Office, the Nevada Board of Health and the Nevada Legislature.
