One-third of corrections staff vaccinated for COVID-19

CARSON CITY — About one-third of Nevada’s corrections staff have been vaccinated for COVID-19, while just one inmate has received the vaccine, the department said Tuesday.

In response to a question from Assemblywoman Cecilia Gonzalez, D-Las Vegas, during an Assembly Judiciary Committee meeting Tuesday, Department of Corrections Medical Director Michael Minev said that the lone inmate who has been inoculated — who is incarcerated at the Ely State Prison — was vaccinated at the discretion of the White Pine County medical officer.

Vaccinations for other incarcerated people who are interested in receiving it could start by March 1, Minev added.

According to surveys done by the department, the willingness of inmates to get that vaccine varies greatly by facility. Minev said that more than 60 percent of inmates at both Southern Desert and Lovelock correctional centers have expressed interested in getting the vaccine. But at the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center, just 24 percent of the incarcerated population said they wanted the vaccine.

Minev said that about 33 percent of the department’s staff has been vaccinated at this point. NDOC Director Charles Daniels said that number could be higher as their numbers include employees who have volunteered the information, and that some may have chosen to keep their decision to vaccinate private.

“We have been trying to emphasize the importance to our staff to get the vaccination because of their constant interfacing with the community and they are at the highest risk of bringing COVID19 into our facilities,” Minev said.

The department in December detailed some of the pushback it had received from employees, including some who threatened to quit if they were forced to get the vaccine.

Christine Leathers, the department’s head of human resources, told lawmakers that they are not currently mandating vaccines for employees, but aren’t ruling out the possibility of doing so.

“We have been in discussions with the attorney general’s office and at this time we don’t feel that it’s appropriate to mandate at this time, but we are keeping that option open should we have to do it in the future,” she said.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.