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Nevada Casino Workers Will Be Among the First Ones to Get Vaccinated; State Regulator Wants Them Surveyed

Article by : Helen Jan 21, 2021

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Updated: Feb 3, 2023

With an average of 1,701 confirmed new daily COVID-19 cases over the past 14 days, Nevada is racing to vaccinate its population in the hopes of returning to normal. To achieve that, any given community needs to have between 80% and 90% of its members vaccinated to develop what is known as “herd immunity,” according to public health experts.

Casino employees are going to be among the first ones to get the vaccine as they are considered a part of a “frontline commerce and service industry,” according to the latest version of the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Nevada’s Playbook for Statewide Operations.

The state regulator, the Nevada Gaming Control Board, is doing its part in aiding the vaccination strategy’s execution. In a notice to casino licensees released on January 14, the Board required each of them to complete the Licensee Workforce Vaccination Survey. It is meant to assess how willing the casino workers are to get vaccinated to “implement […] the Playbook most effectively”. The licensees will have until January 21 to submit the survey results.

It remains to be seen just how ready casino workers are to get vaccinated. For now, all we know is that among Nevada’s general population, 35% of residents are “not at all likely” or “not too likely” to agree to get vaccinated. Conducted by the University of Nevada, Reno, and Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, the study with these results involved 5,000 Nevada residents and an additional thousand healthcare workers.

The most important factors impacting the respondents’ decision making when it comes to vaccination turned out to be the vaccine’s long-term safety and efficacy. But the “recommendation of vaccine by primary care providers and healthcare providers” was reported to be the second least important factor, with only politician recommendations coming across as less trustworthy. Another finding the study brought to light was the correlation between the level of education and the willingness to get vaccinated: “The likelihood of getting vaccinated rises 5% with each education level — no high school, high school graduate, some college, college graduate and graduate or professional degree.”

Apart from some’s unwillingness to receive a vaccine, it’s not the only issue Nevada’s authorities have to grapple with. According to a report by Associated Press, around two-thirds of the vaccines received by the state just sit there on the shelves instead of being administered. Besides, Nevada ranks low when it comes to the vaccines administered per capita – only six other states have lower stats than the Silver State.

Of course, this inefficiency set up the stage for the blame game. Gov. Sisolak said the federal government had put them in “an impossible position” to guess how many people to prepare to vaccinate.

In October, Gov. Sisolak was optimistic about the vaccination rollout even though the federal funds may not have been sufficient. Even called it a success on December 30, now he recognizes things are not going as smoothly as planned. “Similar to every other state that has been tasked with completely running the largest vaccination program in history, there have been challenges. Instead of ignoring or denying the challenges we face, we will be committed to identifying them and finding solutions,” he said at a news conference on January 11.

Even if all obstacles on the path to successful vaccination are overcome, it is likely to be a while before the casinos are allowed to exceed their current 25-percent occupancy limits. The restriction was put in place in November as a “temporary measure,” but there are no signs Gov. Sisolak is ready to loosen it up. After all, there is nothing more constant than something temporary.