Veterans in Southern Nevada get COVID-19 vaccine

George Davis, 78, drove from St. George, Utah, to be among the first veterans to receive a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the VA Medical Center in North Las Vegas.

“I believe this will take one more worry off my mind,” Davis, who is being treated for cancer, said while getting his shot Tuesday.

The VA hospital, which receives its vaccine through a separate distribution system from the rest of the state, began this week giving shots to its highest-risk veterans, including those being treated for serious medical issues such as cancer or kidney failure.

Meanwhile, state and country public health officials, grappling with the complexity of the largest vaccination effort in U.S. history, have yet to release details on how and when older Nevadans who are not veterans will receive the vaccine.

People 75 and older in Nevada are among those who are prioritized to next receive the vaccine after a Tier 1 group that includes front-line health care workers, first responders and residents and staff in nursing homes.

At the VA hospital, staff members already have gotten the shot. Nearly 60 percent of the hospital’s 3,000 staff members chose to receive the vaccine, with a survey indicating that another 25 percent may opt to get the shot at a later date, public affairs specialist John Archiquette said. The hospital also has vaccinated patients in a residential program.

With the veterans who got the shot this week, the hospital has administered about 2,200 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which requires two doses, Archiquette said.

The hospital has administered about 46 percent of its 4,750 doses of vaccine, a figure that includes a shipment of 950 doses received Tuesday.

It is giving about 300 shots per day, with plans underway to double that number, emergency manager Adrian Allen said. Its first priority is to reach the 4,600 most vulnerable veterans and then, as more vaccine becomes available, to offer a shot to all veterans who want one.

The hospital is contacting veterans enrolled with the VA when it is their turn for the vaccine, said Candice Hamel, assistant nurse manager of specialty clinics. If veterans have questions about when they’re eligible to receive the vaccine, she suggested that they speak with their VA primary care physician.

Rollout delays

Creating a timetable for administering the vaccine is complicated by not knowing exactly when new shipments will arrive.

“We’re at the mercy of when we get a new batch, truly,” Hamel said.

It also is complicated by the logistical challenges of a vaccine that requires ultra-cold storage and special handling, said Bryan Tarman, pharmacy services chief. The Pfizer vaccine needs to be mixed with saline, and once it has been mixed, administered within six hours.

Despite the vaccine’s sensitivity, the hospital has avoided wasting any doses by offering shots to patients at its specialty clinics when there are no-shows for appointments at its vaccine clinic.

The high level of coordination required makes administering the COVID-19 vaccine far more complicated than giving a flu shot. And the complexities are contributing to delays seen across the country in administering the vaccine.

Of more than 17 million doses of vaccine distributed across the country, about 4.8 million, or 28 percent, have been administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Nevada, of 142,525 doses delivered, 34,549 have been administered, according to the CDC, or less than one-quarter. However, there are some lags in reporting, state officials have said.

Tier 1 ‘on track’

A state spokeswoman did not directly address a question about possible bottlenecks in administering the vaccine. But she disputed information provided on Monday by the Southern Nevada Health District that those 75 and older might begin to be vaccinated as soon as next week.

“Based on the State’s analysis of Southern Nevada Health District’s administration of COVID-19 vaccine to health care workers in the Tier 1 population, and their plan to distribute their current allocation, we see no sign that SNHD will be prepared to move to Tier 2 by January 11,” Shannon Litz, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, said in an email.

“The State is currently working with SNHD to see how they can more efficiently vaccinate Tier 1 health care workers with their current allocation,” Litz said.

A health district spokeswoman said that the agency was on track for vaccine distribution and that the state was the best source for information on plans to vaccinate older residents through area pharmacies.

“We are on track with our distribution plans to administer vaccine to Tier 1 groups,” spokeswoman Jennifer Sizemore said in an email.

Litz said that state pharmacy partners are vaccinating residents at long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, some of whom may be 75 and older, but not members of the general public in this age group.

“The State will continue to inform Nevadans of when, where and how to access a vaccine when it becomes available,” she said.

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.