As residents’ frustration escalated, the Southern Nevada Health District on Thursday lifted its requirement for appointments on the Las Vegas Convention Center website, which is dedicated to administering the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Residents, especially 70-year-olds and older, increasingly expressed frustration and anger because they could not book their second doses via the district’s website due to the site crash or the speed with which the appointments are full.
To make room for boarding, the district said in an afternoon statement that it had canceled the first dose of appointments at the conference center – appointments that should never have been scheduled there in the first place.
It also said they notified people who made the cancellations. The district identified them through vaccinations, District Representative Jennifer Sizemore said in an email. Sizemore could not immediately provide a number for how many appointments were canceled or how many entries would be taken.
As a result of the cancellations, the district said it could give second doses to eligible infants for the next four weeks. However, just showing up is no guarantee of getting the second dose.
“Patients will be served based on the availability of vaccines,” the release said.
The announcement was welcome news for 74-year-old Ira Kleiman, a Henderson resident, who said he would be ‘delighted’ to be on the day when he will take a second dose after the “purgatory” at the conference center arrive. non-existent slot. ”
“I hope you do not regard this issue as judicial, geriatric impatience,” he said. “The protection of the second shot is a lifeline for people my age who have not embraced their loved ones for a year and have been hiding for so long.
However, he expressed some skepticism and wondered if he would witness a row of four-hour-old people in walkers and wheelchairs.
“I’m just a little bit suspicious at this point, depending on their system to run a flooded system,” he said.
Who is eligible
The only persons currently eligible are those who received their first dose of Moderna vaccine between 4 and 9 January. The recommended time frame for the second dose of Moderna vaccine is four weeks after the first, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the interval could last up to six weeks.
The district only accepts those who have received their first doses at these sites or events: the Decatur Boulevard health district, Cashman Center, Western High School, Jerome Mack Middle School and vaccination opportunities offered by Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and the University of Touro.
“Information for the second dose of vaccines is received based on the number of first doses administered, and the Health District has the ability to vaccinate anyone who has received their first dose at one of its clinics,” the release reads.
People who have received the vaccine from another provider or received the Pfizer vaccine are not eligible to take a second dose, the health district said. Sizemore said there was currently no date to determine when those receiving the Pfizer vaccine would be eligible.
The conference center site is open Tuesday through Saturday, and eligibility for walk-ins will be accepted from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., or until the vaccine doses are up.
The vaccination center is off Paradise Road in Convention Center Drive in the C-1 area of Central Hall.
The health district continues to email an appointment link to those who are registered with it and have provided an email address. Others may use the publicly available link: snhd.info/get-vaccine/lvccc.
The news release asked people with questions or needed help making appointments to call the health district at 702-759-1900. The line is manned from 8 to 16:30 from Mondays to Fridays.
Contact Mary Hynes at [email protected]. Follow @ MaryHynes1 on Twitter. The author of the Review-Journal staff, Katelyn Newberg, contributed to this report.