Q&A: Why no drive-thru COVID vaccine clinics in Clark County?

Q. Do you know of any drive-thru sites for covid vaccinations? I am 76 and have severe arthritis and can’t walk long. — B.B.

A: Washoe County in Northern Nevada and areas in other states have had success with drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination sites because of their speed and convenience.

In Clark County, there are drive-thru sites for COVID-19 testing — but not for COVID-19 vaccinations. Not yet, anyway.

“Drive-thru sites are popular and convenient for the public, so we do hope to open a drive-thru vaccination site at some point as vaccine supplies permit,” said Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling.

“Indoor sites offer some advantages in terms of climate-control and the ability to establish an observation area for people after they have received a vaccination and need to wait for 15 minutes. Also, staff and supplies aren’t exposed to the elements in an indoor operation,” Welling explained in an email.

Stephanie Bethel, a representative of the Southern Nevada Health District, also said that supply is an issue with setting up drive-thru clinics.

“As you know, our vaccine supply is the determining factor in planning clinics,” she said in an email. “We will explore many different options as we move forward based on our supply and no ideas are off the table.”

Update on rides to vaccine sites

After we said last week that we’d heard of no plans to coordinate rides to vaccination sites, Nevada Department of Health and Human Services’ Shannon Litz pointed us in the right direction.

Ride options for those on Medicaid and for older residents can be found here: https://www.immunizenevada.org/county-specific-covid-19-vaccine-plan. Look under “Appointment Resources.” The state’s NVcovidfighter.org website also lists vaccination locations and has lots of other useful information on COVID-19.

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.