The race is on to roll out vaccines to Nevada’s most vulnerable populations.
Clark County and the Southern Nevada Health District announced that Cashman Center in downtown Las Vegas will open Thursday, January 14 as Las Vegas’ first mass vaccination site. This comes as part of an effort to speed up the vaccination process as Covid numbers continue to surge.
While seniors aged 70 and older are also now included in the vaccine eligibility group, vaccinations at Cashman Center will begin with frontline healthcare workers in its ‘soft opening’ on Thursday. However, as of publishing, appointments for seniors can be made online for as early as next week.
According to SNHD officials, the site will have limited appointments the first day, with the hope of vaccinating up to 2,000 people on Friday. As processes improve in the coming weeks, officials expect this figure to reach up to 4,000 vaccinations per day.
“Our overarching goal is to provide vaccine to everyone who wants it as quickly and as safely as possible,” said Dr. Fermin Leguen, acting chief health officer for SNHD. “Our efforts are contingent on our available resources, including the amount of vaccine we receive each week. We appreciate the public’s support and patience as we expand our testing sites and the availability of appointments.”
Clark County and SNHD talk about COVID 19 vaccine information and more. https://t.co/DY51jCuL3b
— Clark County Nevada (@ClarkCountyNV) January 13, 2021
Appointments for Cashman Center and other SNHD vaccination sites can be made online on the SNHD webpage. Appointments at Cashman Center will be held in Exhibit Hall B, just south of the COVID-19 testing area in Hall A.
“I want to thank all our partners for their work in getting all the logistics together to ensure that we can safely and effectively roll out the vaccine to those who are most vulnerable,” Las Vegas City Councilman Cedric Crear said in a news release. “I am happy that the Cashman Complex can play a key role in our preparedness efforts and I look forward to additional dosages becoming available so that the entire community can eventually be vaccinated.”
Additional mass vaccination sites are set to open in the coming weeks, including the Las Vegas Convention Center. Together with these new megasites, SNHD officials hope to be able to administer between 40,000 and 45,000 vaccinations a week.
Location: 850 N. Las Vegas Boulevard (Cashman Center Exhibit Hall B)
[Featured image: City Of Las Vegas]