Vaccine fuels new gold rush

A 70-something man walked into a doctor’s office on Wednesday without an appointment looking for a coronavirus vaccination. The receptionist told him they don’t have the vaccine and they don’t have anything to do with its administration.

Since the news went out that residents 70 years or older are eligible to be vaccinated, primary care physician’s phones have been ringing.

Meanwhile, residents have been hammering the link for an appointment with Carson City Health and Humans Services to get the first dose of the shot. The number of appointments filled up fast after the link was announced on Wednesday Another appointment location was put up on Thursday, but that filled up, too.

Those who make it into the site after the appointments are all filled see a message that the next availability isn’t until May, but more timely appointments will be posted as more vaccine arrives.

Not everyone in the older categories is that web savvy, which is why the Douglas and Carson City senior centers are offering help to residents age 70 and over in signing up.

Help is reserved for seniors living in Carson, Douglas, Lyon and Storey who are unfamiliar with using the internet and don’t have anyone else to help them.

The senior centers are using the same internet link at https://bit.ly/2XF64Cp that is available to anyone else.

Residents may call the Carson senior center at 883-0703 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Douglas residents may call (775) 782-5500 ext. 3 to receive help.

To be effective, both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses administered three weeks apart. The first cadre of residents 70 and older will be vaccinated on Jan. 19 with a second dose on Feb. 9.

On Thursday the state put out a call for trained medical personnel to help administer shots at mass inoculations.

Anyone who would like to help administer the vaccine, should apply at www.servnv.org and register as part of the Battle Born Medical Corps organization.

While physicians are qualified to administer the vaccine there’s a lot more to it than just pulling it out of the freezer and thawing out a dose.

The Pfizer vaccine has to be kept at minus 94 degrees while the Moderna vaccine can be safely preserved at only minus 4 degrees.

A minimum dose order for the Pfizer vaccine is 975, while Moderna has minimum dose orders of 100, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.

Instead of parceling out the vaccine to individual doctors, the state is focusing on enrolling providers who can administer the vaccine on a large scale.

On Thursday, Nevada surpassed California in the number of vaccinations administered per 1,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

According to the table, Nevada has administered 83,674 doses of the 211,750 it has received. While that’s more than a third of the total, doses are being administered far more swiftly than the Silver State has been getting them.

On Jan. 11, the CDC reported sending the state 205,200, which means the state has received fewer than 5,000 doses in three days.

With the prospect of vaccinating as many as a half-million people statewide, it’s going to be a while before most seniors 70 and older will get a shot.

A community coronavirus testing clinic is scheduled for 1-3 p.m. Tuesday at the Douglas County Community & Senior Center.

On Friday night, Douglas Emergency Management reported 12 new cases and 17 recoveries. The county totals on Friday evening were 1,014 active cases and 1,196 recoveries. The county death toll has remained at 25 since Jan. 9. There have been seven deaths since 2021 began.

For more information, visit www.gethealthycarson.org or call 775-434-1988.