Raiders fan Adam Fredericksen, of North Dakota, gives a thumbs up as he receives a COVID-19 vaccination before entering Allegiant Stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders first home game against the Baltimore Ravens Monday Sept. 13, 2021. This is the first game with fans attending.
Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Residents are encouraged to get the newest COVID-19 booster shot when it becomes available this month, said Cortland Lohff, chief medical officer at the Southern Nevada Health District.
The Health District is expecting doses of the vaccine from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech amid rising cases and hospitalizations as a new coronavirus strain — the EG.5 variant — is emerging.
Both manufacturers say their testing shows the vaccines are effective against EG.5, the dominant strain in the United States. The vaccines were approved Sept. 11 by the Food and Drug Administration.
“It’s really hard to predict what’s going to happen with this in terms of when the next wave of cases is going to be or how severe it’s going to be,” Lohff said. “The most important thing is getting people ready for the new vaccine that will become available.”
There were 42.4 reported daily cases on average in Southern Nevada over the past seven days, according to Health District data. The mark was 25 daily cases on average on July 1.
The seven-day average for local hospitalizations is about 13 people admitted per day, which is an increase of four from around the same time last month.
There has been only one death in Southern Nevada since the beginning of September. That, Lohff stresses, is because of vaccines.
In Southern Nevada, about 75% of the population has gotten at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, the Health District said.
“There is really good data out there to show that being vaccinated appropriately really reduces your risk of hospitalization and death, and I think we’re really seeing that play out,” Lohff said of Southern Nevada’s low death rate, citing vaccination as a big factor.
The case numbers mirror what’s happening nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the 50,579 COVID tests administered the week preceding Sept. 9, 14.3% — or, about 3,537 people — tested positive.
As of that day, 20,538 people were admitted to the hospital with COVID, an almost 8% increase from the previous week. Deaths have also increased by 4.5% compared with the previous week, the CDC reported; 507 people died the week of Sept. 9.
“Generally, what happens ... is, over time, there’s small changes to the viruses, the immunity that we might have from a prior infection or prior vaccination might wane. It happens with influenza,” Lohff said.
Lohff emphasized that “vaccination will be key this year,” especially heading into the winter. And that’s where the area could be at risk because only 13% of the region has been vaccinated with that extra protection, he said.
“Vaccines continue to be our best protection against hospitalizations and death,” said Mandy Cohen, the CDC director, in a briefing late last month. “And in the case of COVID vaccines, these vaccines not only reduce hospitalization and death, but they also reduce the likelihood of long COVID.”
One dose of the updated COVID vaccine is recommended for all individuals 5 years and older, the CDC said.
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