COVID-19 VACCINATION UPDATE
FROM MITZI MILLS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
~ February 15, 2021 ~
1. When will the next Sun City Summerlin Vaccine Clinic be for the first dose? The City of Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, Special Operations Point of Distribution (POD) has completed their Phase 1 (70 years of age and older) COVID-19 Vaccinations at Sun City Summerlin and will not return until it is time to give all those who received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine here at Sun City Summerlin, their second dose. The Fire and Rescue organizers who were here at Sun City Summerlin have several other locations in the City of Las Vegas that they are hosting POD’s at, and they have now moved to another location where they will be giving the first dose to other Nevada residents. Once Southern Nevada Health Department opens the next age group (65 to 69 years of age), we anticipate that Fire and Rescue will return for first doses of Sun City Summerlin residents who are 65 years of age and older.
2. What age group is the vaccine being given too? The state of Nevada has developed a tiered plan for distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Nevada Health Department is responsible for establishing the criteria of who receives the vaccine and when. Presently, Southern Nevada Health Department has released COVID-19 vaccines for those 70 years of age and older. The next age group scheduled is 65 –69 years of age, but mass vaccination of Nevadans in that age group has not been released yet. From the statistics being released, this age group should become eligible about the time we complete our second dose vaccines here at Sun City Summerlin.
3. Why did some people who were younger than the age group approved receive the vaccine? Last week we scheduled the remainder of the people 70 and older that had registered, and with permission from Fire and Rescue, filled the rest of the appointment times with people 65 to 69 years of age. Keep in mind, that if people failed to show for their appointment or cancelled at the last minute, we also had to fill those appointments, and were given permission to then call people in that we had not given already scheduled. The system is not perfect and with several people making calls from several different lists, the first people reached were scheduled. The number of people called in depended on how many people did not show up, and how many extra vaccines we were issued each day, both unpredictable, and the ages ranged from 58 to 65.
4. Why did my neighbor who is younger than me get an appointment for a vaccine before I did? The answer to this one is simple and best explained with an example. Let’s say you are scheduled for 3pm on Friday and you are 70 years of age. On Wednesday someone calls and cancels their appointment for Thursday, we then send an appointment out to someone in the next age group, which would be younger than 70 because we had already previously scheduled appointments for everyone who had signed up and were in their 70’s. Nothing sinister, it is just what happens when you must backfill cancelled appointments and you are at the end of an age group. The same thing is happening all over the valley.
5. What is the next age group for the COVID-19 Vaccine and when will they be eligible? The next age group will be 65 to 69 years of age. Southern Nevada Health Department has not indicated when they will open this age group, but we believe it will be late March early April. When they open this age group, our POD would be for those 65 and older, and just like with the 70 and over POD, we would pull from those under the lowest age to fill cancelled and missed appointments as allowed.
6. I received the Pfizer vaccine, my appointment for my second appointment is 28 days from my vaccine date, I have read that with Pfizer the vaccine has to be within 21 days of the vaccine. The information being shared by people is causing some confusion. The CDC recommendations are very clear and state;
Pfizer-Persons should not be scheduled to receive the second dose less than 21 days after the first dose. The second dose should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible and within 42 days of the first dose. Moderna-Persons should not be scheduled to receive the second dose less than 28 days after the first dose. The second dose should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible and within 42 days of the first dose.
7. I did not receive my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Sun City Summerlin, can I get on the schedule to receive my second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Sun City Summerlin or can you call me if someone does not show up? No, each POD is allocated their second dose based on the paperwork turned in for the first dose, and the second dose is allocated to the person on the paperwork. You need to return to the POD that gave you the first dose.
8. I saw a lot of Sun City Summerlin people working the COVID-19 Clinic, how much were they paid and were they given the COVID-19 vaccine? All of the wonderful residents you saw working, from the parking lot all the way through the checkout were volunteers. We had over 100 volunteers working this event and none of them were paid a dime. They did such a wonderful job some are even being asked by City of Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, Special Operations to assist in the same capacity at other POD locations. The volunteers worked numerous hours every day and yes, they were offered the vaccine by Fire and Rescue, not because they volunteered but because they were working an event where they were in contact with thousands of people.
9. I saw staff at the COVID-19 Clinic, were they given the COVID-19 vaccine? Fire and Rescue did administer the vaccine to our front line employees who wanted to receive it who are in direct contact with so many of you every day and are essential in keeping our facilities open and will be essential in opening them up further as restrictions are lifted.
10. If I have not received my COVID-19 vaccine yet, what should I do? If you want the vaccine, I encourage you to get on or stay on the vaccine list here at Sun City Summerlin, and to also make reservations at other facilities. We cannot guarantee when or if we will get additional vaccines. We only ask that if you do get your vaccination somewhere else that you cancel your registration with us by sending an email to [email protected].
11. I am scheduled for my second dose, but I would like to change the time or date, how do I go about making this change? This is one of those requests that takes a tremendous amount of staff time to facilitate. The appointments were not made by Sun City Summerlin, they were pre-designated by Fire and Rescue. Before you ask please consider how fast you were in and out for your first dose, and please do your best to keep the appointment you were assigned. Remember, you are assigned on a day that the brand vaccine you were given is being given at the POD. If you absolutely have to request a change, please do so in writing to [email protected], and be patient as we try to find you another time when the brand vaccine you were given is being administered. It is best to keep your appointment to avoid any scheduling or vaccine availability issues.
12. If I have received my COVID-19 Vaccine at Sun City Summerlin do I still need to adhere to restrictions at the Sun City Summerlin facilities such as social distancing and wearing a face mask. Yes, you do. The State of Nevada has not lifted social distancing, mask or other COVID-19 requirements and restrictions.
13. If I have not received confirmation that I am registered to receive an appointment, what should I do? You need to send an email to [email protected] asking for confirmation. Please be sure and include your first name, last name, member number, address, phone number and age. We apologize in advance if you have requested this information and still not received confirmation and ask that you help us out one more time so we can make sure you are in the system.
2. What age group is the vaccine being given too? The state of Nevada has developed a tiered plan for distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Nevada Health Department is responsible for establishing the criteria of who receives the vaccine and when. Presently, Southern Nevada Health Department has released COVID-19 vaccines for those 70 years of age and older. The next age group scheduled is 65 –69 years of age, but mass vaccination of Nevadans in that age group has not been released yet. From the statistics being released, this age group should become eligible about the time we complete our second dose vaccines here at Sun City Summerlin.
3. Why did some people who were younger than the age group approved receive the vaccine? Last week we scheduled the remainder of the people 70 and older that had registered, and with permission from Fire and Rescue, filled the rest of the appointment times with people 65 to 69 years of age. Keep in mind, that if people failed to show for their appointment or cancelled at the last minute, we also had to fill those appointments, and were given permission to then call people in that we had not given already scheduled. The system is not perfect and with several people making calls from several different lists, the first people reached were scheduled. The number of people called in depended on how many people did not show up, and how many extra vaccines we were issued each day, both unpredictable, and the ages ranged from 58 to 65.
4. Why did my neighbor who is younger than me get an appointment for a vaccine before I did? The answer to this one is simple and best explained with an example. Let’s say you are scheduled for 3pm on Friday and you are 70 years of age. On Wednesday someone calls and cancels their appointment for Thursday, we then send an appointment out to someone in the next age group, which would be younger than 70 because we had already previously scheduled appointments for everyone who had signed up and were in their 70’s. Nothing sinister, it is just what happens when you must backfill cancelled appointments and you are at the end of an age group. The same thing is happening all over the valley.
5. What is the next age group for the COVID-19 Vaccine and when will they be eligible? The next age group will be 65 to 69 years of age. Southern Nevada Health Department has not indicated when they will open this age group, but we believe it will be late March early April. When they open this age group, our POD would be for those 65 and older, and just like with the 70 and over POD, we would pull from those under the lowest age to fill cancelled and missed appointments as allowed.
6. I received the Pfizer vaccine, my appointment for my second appointment is 28 days from my vaccine date, I have read that with Pfizer the vaccine has to be within 21 days of the vaccine. The information being shared by people is causing some confusion. The CDC recommendations are very clear and state;
Pfizer-Persons should not be scheduled to receive the second dose less than 21 days after the first dose. The second dose should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible and within 42 days of the first dose. Moderna-Persons should not be scheduled to receive the second dose less than 28 days after the first dose. The second dose should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible and within 42 days of the first dose.
7. I did not receive my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Sun City Summerlin, can I get on the schedule to receive my second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Sun City Summerlin or can you call me if someone does not show up? No, each POD is allocated their second dose based on the paperwork turned in for the first dose, and the second dose is allocated to the person on the paperwork. You need to return to the POD that gave you the first dose.
8. I saw a lot of Sun City Summerlin people working the COVID-19 Clinic, how much were they paid and were they given the COVID-19 vaccine? All of the wonderful residents you saw working, from the parking lot all the way through the checkout were volunteers. We had over 100 volunteers working this event and none of them were paid a dime. They did such a wonderful job some are even being asked by City of Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, Special Operations to assist in the same capacity at other POD locations. The volunteers worked numerous hours every day and yes, they were offered the vaccine by Fire and Rescue, not because they volunteered but because they were working an event where they were in contact with thousands of people.
9. I saw staff at the COVID-19 Clinic, were they given the COVID-19 vaccine? Fire and Rescue did administer the vaccine to our front line employees who wanted to receive it who are in direct contact with so many of you every day and are essential in keeping our facilities open and will be essential in opening them up further as restrictions are lifted.
10. If I have not received my COVID-19 vaccine yet, what should I do? If you want the vaccine, I encourage you to get on or stay on the vaccine list here at Sun City Summerlin, and to also make reservations at other facilities. We cannot guarantee when or if we will get additional vaccines. We only ask that if you do get your vaccination somewhere else that you cancel your registration with us by sending an email to [email protected].
11. I am scheduled for my second dose, but I would like to change the time or date, how do I go about making this change? This is one of those requests that takes a tremendous amount of staff time to facilitate. The appointments were not made by Sun City Summerlin, they were pre-designated by Fire and Rescue. Before you ask please consider how fast you were in and out for your first dose, and please do your best to keep the appointment you were assigned. Remember, you are assigned on a day that the brand vaccine you were given is being given at the POD. If you absolutely have to request a change, please do so in writing to [email protected], and be patient as we try to find you another time when the brand vaccine you were given is being administered. It is best to keep your appointment to avoid any scheduling or vaccine availability issues.
12. If I have received my COVID-19 Vaccine at Sun City Summerlin do I still need to adhere to restrictions at the Sun City Summerlin facilities such as social distancing and wearing a face mask. Yes, you do. The State of Nevada has not lifted social distancing, mask or other COVID-19 requirements and restrictions.
13. If I have not received confirmation that I am registered to receive an appointment, what should I do? You need to send an email to [email protected] asking for confirmation. Please be sure and include your first name, last name, member number, address, phone number and age. We apologize in advance if you have requested this information and still not received confirmation and ask that you help us out one more time so we can make sure you are in the system.
Photo Credit: Richard Becker
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