More than six months after the coronavirus vaccine became available to hospital workers in Nevada, thousands have yet to get the shot.
And amid a rise in new cases and fear of virus variants, many hospitals in Clark County, including one of the country’s largest public hospitals, University Medical Center, do not require employees to get vaccinated.
According to a recent Las Vegas Sun story, about one in every four employees at two of Southern Nevada’s largest hospital providers is yet to be fully vaccinated.
“They did not give me any further breakdown on how many of these are working directly with patients,” said Sun reporter Hillary Davis, who wrote the story.
The Southern Nevada hospital worker vaccination rate is somewhat better than the national average, but Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom said even one unvaccinated UMC worker is too many.
"If you don't believe in science, then I'm not sure you should be working in a hospital," said Segerblom, who provides oversight to the county-run UMC.
He said any COVID resurgence would “destroy our economy.”
“We are so primed in Las Vegas to take off,” he told State of Nevada.
Tick Segerblom, commissioner, Clark County; Hillary Davis, reporter, Las Vegas Sun; Dr. Cortland Lough, chief medical officer, Southern Nevada Health District
