EDITORIAL: Bringing COVID vaccinations to workers

State and local officials are now setting aside more than half of Southern Nevada’s weekly vaccine allotment for casino and hospitality workers, many of whom may now receive the shots at work. It’s a worthwhile program that should be expanded to other workplaces.

Ensuring that such workers are comfortable on the job — and that customers are comfortable returning to Las Vegas resorts — is an obvious priority for public health officials, given the region’s heavy reliance on tourism and gaming. Increasing vaccination rates for casino and other employees is an integral part of that effort.

“Our economy is based on gaming and entertainment and restaurants and all the things that are associated with that,” Greg Cassell of the Southern Nevada Health District told the Review-Journal this week. “Having a healthy workforce is key to them being able to provide those services and get us back up to speed as a community with our primary industry.”

MGM Resorts this week began to offer all employees vaccinations on location at one of its Strip casinos. Two other gaming companies are prepared to follow suit. Public health officials say about 28,000 of the 54,850 doses the county receives each week will be directed toward the effort.

Of the 20 largest employers in Nevada, 10 are individual Strip casinos. Eight others are governments or public agencies where employees were already — inexplicably, in most cases — prioritized for vaccines. The remaining two are Southwest Airlines and Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.

While ramping up the effort to vaccinate workers toiling for the state’s major industry makes eminent sense now that vaccines are being offered to a wider swath of the community, there’s no reason the concept of bringing shots to workers rather than the other way around couldn’t be replicated in other workplaces. It would also be helpful to offer mobile vaccine services in underserved or hard-to-reach communities.

Local officials should consider expanding the onsite program to sign up employers from a variety of different industries to participate in workplace vaccinations as a way to more quickly get shots in arms — especially because many appointments are going unused at mass vaccination locations. The proactive approach would not only make the experience more convenient for workers, it would help employers ensure a safer environment for their employees and customers.

And that will only hasten the region’s economic recovery.