Nevada senators tour Cashman vaccination site

Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen on Thursday toured the Cashman Center COVID-19 vaccination facility, where they met with local public health officials, National Guardsmen and a few Nevadans who had just received their second shots.

“This is a perfect example of collaboration,” Cortez Masto said at a news conference after the tour, noting a handful of different agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Southern Nevada Health District and Clark County were involved.

“And that was a point,” she continued. “To make it seamless for Nevadans, particularly here in Southern Nevada, to get the vaccines that are so critical to stem the spread of this virus.”

The senators spent about an hour meeting with people and posing for photos as they moved through Cashman, which had only a small line despite not requiring an appointment on Thursday.

A string quartet seated in the center of the post-vaccination observation area played classic rock covers, from The Beatles to Queen to Journey, as Rosen and Cortez Masto met with several recently vaccinated Nevadans. One woman told the senators she could not wait to travel, while another man told them he had a new baby at home whom he was hoping to keep safe during the pandemic.

The senators said they hoped to spread awareness for both the vaccination process and the means of financial aid available through the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which was passed despite unanimous opposition from Republicans.

Rosen noted Nevada will receive more than $4.1 billion in aid, including $1 billion in K-12 funding. And some 1.4 million Nevadans will receive some stimulus money “as a result of (the senators’) hard work.”

Cortez Masto said it’s important to spread the news of Nevada’s vaccination progress so that the some 50 million annual tourists feel safe in returning to a state whose primary economic engine is tourism. The goal is to have every hospitality worker on the Strip and beyond vaccinated in the next few weeks.

They encouraged everyone to get the vaccine once eligibility opens up to all Nevadans over 16 years old on Monday.

Rosen and Cortez Masto said the local officials they met with on the tour are already beginning to plan for the possibility of administering vaccination boosters in the next year or so, as is FEMA.

The senators also discussed President Joe Biden’s newly released $2 trillion infrastructure plan.

Rosen said the plan will address four areas of American life: cars, trucks, trains and other means of transportation; broadband internet access and clean water and energy plans; investing in in-home caregivers and growing the manufacturing industry.

Both senators will have input on the plan through their various committee posts, Rosen said, with Cortez Masto stressing the current administration “knows and will continue to know” what Nevada needs in terms of infrastructure spending.

Contact Rory Appleton at rappleton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0276. Follow @RoryDoesPhonics on Twitter.