Nevada Army National Guard member Katherine Deskins prepares a COVID-19 shot at Cashman Field Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. The vaccinations to public safety workers are part of a pilot program for a larger mass vaccination effort, officials said.
Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021 | 11 p.m.
Clark County has administered more than 60,000 COVID-19 vaccines, more than doubling the total over the past week than had been given in the prior month.
As of Monday, 60,632 doses had been shot into arms, the Southern Nevada Health District said Thursday. Just under 29,000 doses had been given countywide as of Jan. 11.
The health district this week expanded eligibility to seniors over 70, workers in the front-line public safety and social services field, and educators, among other workers in critical infrastructure and services. In concert, it has also opened up several large public clinics, including the Cashman Center megasite last week, and Smith’s and Walgreens starting accepting appointments for seniors at their pharmacies this week.
Clark County dispensed its first shots on Dec. 14, starting with front-line hospital staff.
The 60,000 doses come out of about 83,000 total the county has received so far.
Vaccine allocation and administration have been a persistent issue in Nevada, with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing Nevada in the bottom 10 per capita.
Clark County Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, who is also vice-chair of the Southern Nevada District Board of Health, said Wednesday that the county is working with Nevada’s congressional delegation to step up the federal government’s weekly allocation. The county has asked for 100,000 doses per week; officials have previously said the federal government releases about 35,000 doses a week to all of Nevada.
“As they’re working to do that 100 million,” Kirkpatrick said, referencing President Joe Biden’s pledge to give out 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days in office, “we want to make sure we’re also working with the state very closely and our congressional delegation to ensure that Nevada is one of the ones with the squeaky wheel, trying to get more vaccines as soon as possible.”
In the meantime, officials remind people to stay patient, and say that eventually, everyone who wants the vaccine will get it.
Appointments are opened for eligible groups in limited batches at a time online.
