The COVID-19 vaccine is here in Nevada.
However, with only a small number of doses initially available, not all Nevadans are yet eligible to receive the vaccine. Below, we have answered as many of your questions as possible about the vaccine, from “Where do I fall on the state’s priority list?” to “How will I know that I’m eligible?” to “How do I know the vaccine is safe?” and “Where will I go to get the vaccine?”
All answers below are based on interviews with state and local immunization officials and health care workers and publicly available resources from the state of Nevada, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
This article will be updated as more information on the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available. It was last updated on: Monday, Feb. 1, 2021 at 5:22 p.m.
For more on how many doses of the vaccine Nevada has administered, please visit our COVID-19 data page.
What’s the plan for vaccinating Nevadans?
The order in which Nevadans will receive the COVID-19 vaccine is determined by the state’s vaccination playbook. The third version of the playbook, the most recent, was released on Jan. 11. You can find it here.
Under the state’s plan, doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered in two “lanes” simultaneously. One lane is for frontline and essential workforce, while the other is for the general population. This will allow the state to ensure that it is vaccinating both high-priority sectors of the workforce that have frequent and sustained exposure to the public while also vaccinating high-priority sectors of the general population who are most at risk for falling seriously ill from COVID-19.
When will health care workers be vaccinated?
Because health care workers already started to be vaccinated under what was known as “Tier 1” or “Phase 1a” before the state released its new lane-based approach in mid-January, they are not included in the workforce lane under the current version of the state’s vaccination playbook. However, all counties started vaccinating health care workers in December and, even as they continue to vaccinate other groups, will continue to vaccinate health care workers who may not have already gotten vaccinated.
The health care worker category includes paid and non-paid clinical and nonclinical employees, volunteers, interns and others. The general categories of health care workers are as follows:
- General medical and surgical hospitals
- Psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals
- Emergency medical services personnel
- Frontline public health workforce
- Lab workers
- Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians
- Outpatient and home health providers
Who will be vaccinated after health care workers?
At the top of the frontline and essential workforce lane are people who work in public safety and security: Department of Corrections staff; law enforcement, public safety and national security; and state and local emergency operations managers and staff.
That workforce group will be followed by workers who participate in frontline community support. At the top of that list are those who work in education, including both pre-K and K-12, and childcare in public, private and charter school settings.
At the same time as the state is vaccinating the top of the workforce, it will also be vaccinating the top of the general population tier, starting with Nevadans 70 years and older. Once that age group has been vaccinated, the state will vaccinate those 65-69. See the graphic below to find where in the state’s vaccination plan you fall:
For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Nevada, please read the full article Indy Q+A: When can I expect to receive the COVID-19 vaccine? Who is getting vaccinated now? Is it safe? (thenevadaindependent.com)
This story was produced by reporter Megan Messerly for The Nevada Independent and was originally published on January 13, 2021.
The article was shared with Noticiero Móvil thanks to our partnership with The Nevada Independent.