EDITORIAL: Nevada must make senior citizens a vaccine priority

With the new year comes hope that vaccines can tame the deadly pandemic. The optimism is warranted, but state officials must do much more to keep the public informed about their intentions and priorities.

On Wednesday, Gov. Steve Sisolak emerged to quell criticism that too many seniors will not be among the first vaccinated. Nevada’s plan, he said during a Carson City news conference, will be updated to prioritize those 75 years of age and older.

An obvious question might be: How on earth would that not be the case in the first place? The coronavirus is not an equal opportunity killer. The vast majority of its victims have been elderly. Yet an advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention originally recommended in November that “essential” workers jump to the head of the line over senior citizens. As The Washington Post’s Megan McArdle noted this week, the move was a nod to “health equity” given that the senior population skews white, while many so-called essential workers are Black or brown.

No kidding.

The panel reversed itself last week in the face of justified criticism. Yet Gov. Sisolak and his health experts were apparently willing to blindly follow the CDC’s flawed guidelines and delay inoculating Nevada’s most vulnerable. Only after the CDC announced on Dec. 20 that those older than 75 — along with frontline health care workers — should receive vaccine priority did Gov. Sisolak change course.

Other governors required no such “guidance.” Florida, Texas and Ohio have ignored the CDC’s recommendations and initiated policies that elevate senior citizens 65 and over above “frontline” workers, who are generally younger and healthier. Nevada should do the same.

“As we have said from the start, this is a dynamic and fluid situation and we learn more and more from the federal government about this vaccine rollout,” Gov. Sisolak explained. “We’re being as transparent and possible with Nevadans at this time.”

That, to put it mildly, is a crock. Yes, it’s early in the process and some confusion is inevitable. But while Nevada officials take their time revising the vaccine rollout program, those most at risk from COVID remain in the dark, many still afraid to leave their homes. Other than pointing to the CDC, neither the governor nor members of his team have offered specifics about the reasoning behind a priority list that puts prison inmates above 70 year olds and those with serious underlying health conditions. And where is the outreach explaining to seniors — and everybody else — when they will be eligible to receive the vaccine and how they go about getting it?

Gov. Sisolak’s communication efforts during the past 10 months have been sporadic and insufficient. The vaccine rollout is yet another testament to that regrettable reality.