Higher education system details vaccine plan
May start next week at colleges in valley
COVID-19 vaccinations for frontline health care workers at universities and colleges in the Las Vegas Valley could begin as early as Monday, a week after schools in some parts of the state began giving shots to similar workers.
The Nevada System of Higher Education, which includes eight schools and more than 107,000 students, released a letter late Wednesday detailing plans for administering the vaccine to employees and students.
The pace of the vaccination effort will unfold differently in various areas. In the Las Vegas Valley, for example, only employees classified as being in Tier 1 — the highest priority group consisting primarily of front-line health care workers — are expected to be inoculated initially. Other areas could begin Tier 2 vaccinations right away, according to the rollout plan.
NSHE Chancellor Melody Rose said in a statement to the Review-journal that each school has prepared distribution plans in accordance with Gov. Steve Sisolak’s vaccine playbook.
“NSHE is committed to making COVID-19 vaccines available to all who want them, as soon as possible,” she said.
Vaccinations of staff who are
classified by the state as being in Tier 1 have begun at most of the eight NSHE schools, but not in Southern Nevada. That group includes health care faculty and staff, and university police officers.
Employees from Great Basin College in Elko, the University of Nevada, Reno and Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno began receiving the vaccine last week, Rose wrote.
Tier 1 employees at UNLV, the College of Southern Nevada and Nevada State College in Henderson are expected to begin receiving the
vaccine Monday at UNLV.
Tier 2 will include “essential NSHE employees who conduct on-campus and in-person face-to-face work with students and/or the public,” Rose wrote. “This category does not include NSHE employees who have been working remotely. Rather, this category is for those employees who are most at risk for exposure, including face-to-face contact, irrespective of whether they serve in an academic or administrative role.”
NSHE anticipates “the remainder of NSHE faculty and staff” — as well as students who are living in residential campus housing — will be eligible for vaccinations in Tier 3, Rose wrote.
“The remaining student body and the public will likely be in Tier 4, which may not begin until later in the spring 2021 semester,” she said.
The Southern Nevada Health District has designated UNLV as a “point of dispensing,” or POD, that will become operational Monday, according to Rose’s letter. It will allow the university to administer the vaccine to NSHE employees and students and members of the public who are in Tier 1.
A second POD in the region is expected to open Jan. 19 at the College of Southern Nevada’s Henderson campus, according to the letter. It, too, will serve the NSHE community and public.
University Police Services’ Southern Command has developed an online portal, which could go live as early as Friday, that will allow NSHE students and employees to log in and get answers about when and where they could receive the vaccine.
UNLV officials said Thursday it’s unclear when employees and students in each tier will be contacted to receive the vaccine, but those in Tier 1 should receive an email this week with a link to register.