EDITORIAL: Unfilled appointments? Lower the eligibility age

Gov. Steve Sisolak last week slammed Southern Nevada officials for allowing healthy, young city and county government employees to jump the vaccine line. He’s absolutely correct. But it didn’t help that guidance from the governor’s own state health officials, under the dubious guise of “continuity of governance,” included the vague loophole that facilitated the scandal in the first place.

It’s another example of the lack of coordination and mixed messaging that has plagued the process from the beginning.

Gov. Sisolak, however, has the chance to remedy another unnecessary roadblock when it comes to getting shots in the arms of those who need them most.

On Monday, Clark County public health officials said that many vaccine appointments remain available. The county’s two major inoculation sites — Cashman Center and the Las Vegas Convention Center — can each handle 4,000 shots a day but are currently operating well below capacity. Cashman is running at about 2,500 vaccinations daily, while the Convention Center is below 3,000.

“We really are struggling right now to fill our vaccination sites,” said Dr. Fermin Leguen, the chief health officer for the Southern Nevada Health District.

The tale is similar at other locations. Officials at UNLV’s clinic, which can administer 2,000 shots a day, said they’ve been operating at half capacity in recent days, the Review-Journal reported Wednesday.

Dr. Leguen stressed that the situation has not led to an increase in wasted doses. But that may become increasingly likely as appointments go unfilled.

In recognition of the situation, Dr. Leguen has asked the state to expand eligibility — now limited to those in certain professions and seniors 65 years and up — to members of the general public who are 55 and older.

The suggestion makes eminent sense, as does opening up appointments to those with serious pre-existing conditions. Yes, health officials must continue and expand outreach to those who are currently eligible. Mobile vaccination clinics to reach homebound seniors and drive-thru sites would also encourage more participation. But it defies logic to remain beholden to arbitrary bureaucratic guidelines if a few thousand appointments in Southern Nevada go unused every day. Filling those slots would hasten the ultimate objective.

Yet state officials have so far brushed off Clark County’s suggestion, offering little more than “stay the course.” But this unprecedented mass vaccination effort demands a nimble and flexible response rather than bureaucratic inertia. The Clark County proposal is a no-brainer, and Gov. Sisolak needs to step up quickly and do what’s right.