Jabs begin next week

Station Casinos and Las Vegas Sands Corp are adding their weight to Nevada’s onslaught against COVID-19 as both companies prepare to offer their employees vaccinations starting next week. Las Vegas-based Station Casinos announced it would begin offering vaccinations on April 6 with the help of American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance company.

Station Casinos COO Bob Finch said via Twitter on April 1 that his company was “thrilled” to offer vaccines to its staff and their families:

According to stationcasinosblog.com, the AMR will administer the vaccine at meeting and convention spaces at six Station properties: Boulder Station, Green Valley Ranch, Palace Station, Red Rock, Santa Fe Station, and Sunset Station.

Greg Cassell, incident commander for the Southern Nevada Health District’s vaccination rollout, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Las Vegas Sands Corp. will also begin vaccinating its workers early next week.

Sin City’s casinos strike back

Station’s announcement follows disclosures earlier this week from both MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, that they, too, will inoculate their Strip employees. MGM Resorts started vaccinating its Strip workers Tuesday at its Mandalay Bay resort convention center, while Caesars Entertainment will open its inoculation clinic at its Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino on April 8.

According to the Associated Press, the in-house clinic at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas began administering vaccines from March 22 in partnership with Impact Health, and “has handled 4,000 doses of vaccinations.”

Wynn Resorts spokesman Michael Weaver, meanwhile, said his firm has vaccinated around 3,000 workers at its Encore Las Vegas inoculation site since mid-January.

The drive by Las Vegas casinos to fast-track vaccinations for employees comes after health officials in Southern Nevada designated nearly half of the county’s allocation of public vaccinations to employees in the hospitality industry.

healthy workforce is key”

Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) spokeswoman Shannon Litz said earlier this week that the state had allocated almost 28,000 doses for hospitality workers. Cassell, meanwhile, highlighted that a “healthy workforce is key” to getting the region’s “primary industry […] back up to speed.”

Nevada turning the COVID-19 tide

The DHHS reported on April 1 that over “18% of the Nevada population was fully vaccinated, including nearly 334,000 people in the Las Vegas area.”

Also on Thursday, Nevada Health Response reported 350 fresh cases of COVID-19 and 273 hospitalizations:

According to the AP, state biostatistician Kyra Morgan said the 273 people hospitalized with the coronavirus was the “lowest since the Nevada Hospital Association began reporting those numbers.”