Gov. Steve Sisolak announced the state's updated vaccine plan during a Monday evening virtual press conference, in which he also extended the statewide "pause" another 30 days.
Gov. Steve Sisolak on Wednesday announced that he is lowering the age of those eligible for vaccination from 70 to 65, a move some smaller counties have already made. He also announced larger class sizes for in-person schools and the resumption of contact sports like football in schools. Sisolak also said under the Biden administration, Nevada is now getting more vaccine doses and is hopeful that many more doses will be on the way. The change in age affects only vaccines received through the Federal Pharmacy Program. He said even though Walmart is the only pharmacy in the program to directly receive doses, Nevada will be providing doses to other pharmacies in areas that may not have access to a Walmart so that seniors can continue receiving vaccinations. “We’ll have to wait and see,” he said. Candice McDaniel of the health Division said one problem over the past week or so is the huge winter storms hitting the southwest — Texas in particular — slowing shipments of vaccines to Nevada and other states. “The weather is just something that’s out of our control,” she said. Sisolak said with virus transmission rates on the decline, he is authorizing school districts that have been allowing in-person instruction to increase occupancy rates to 75 percent or 250 people in a contained space. Capacity levels for school buses, he said can rise to two thirds of rated capacity. Sisolak said full contact sports can resume under regulations developed by the NIAA, the governing body for most high school sports. He said that will include weekly testing of coaches, staff and student athletes. He said local school districts and schools themselves must approve plans for testing, the number of spectators allow and that only those schools regulated and governed by NIAA will be allowed to resume contact sports. Traveling leagues, private leagues and other groups won’t be allowed. He said he hopes to transfer those controls to local districts by May 1. Other sports not involving full contact like baseball have been allowed to practice and plan since the fall. But he said keeping those new capacity levels will depend on Nevadans continuing to follow masking, social distancing and other safety regulations. He said the transmission rates and test positivity rates are on the decline in most counties but only continued adherence to safety guidelines will make sure that continues so that the state can further reduce restrictions.
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