LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Thousands of health care workers in Nevada are required to get the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as part of a federal mandate that starts Thursday.
Nevada is one of 24 states under the first wave that includes employees within the hospital system. The mandate will apply to the rest of the country in the coming weeks.
Staff at hospitals, nursing homes and home health agencies that participate in federal programs like Medicaid and Medicare are included. Workers consist of doctors, nurses, technicians, aides and volunteers.
The deadline comes at a time when hospitals in Clark County are already struggling with staffing shortages.
The Nevada Health Association declared Southern Nevada is in a “crisis level of concern” for employees in the health care system.
The organization also reports that the county is seeing hospitalizations increase, and hospitals do not have the staff to provide adequate care for the number of patients admitted.
