After Clark County, cities could push vaccine measure on workers

When Clark County lawmakers recently embraced a proposal to require regular COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated county employees, Commissioner Justin Jones said officials should “lead by example.”

But now will other governments in Southern Nevada follow suit? The immediate answer runs the gamut between “no” and “maybe.”

While North Las Vegas is discussing whether to implement its own vaccine-or-test policy, Henderson is instead considering an incentive program to encourage its workers to get the shot, officials in both cities told the Review-Journal.

Las Vegas officials are “monitoring the ongoing discussions” in the county, according to city spokesman Jace Radke.

County talks from Tuesday could lead to a formal plan in less than two weeks, where county workers beginning Sept. 1 would need to choose between providing a confirmation of vaccination or weekly proof of a negative COVID-19 test.

If approved, the county’s policy would follow the state of Nevada, which recently set the same requirement for its 27,000-plus workforce starting on Aug. 15.

Policy is a trend

Public entities and private companies are increasingly moving toward such harder-line vaccination measures for employees to guard against the spread of coronavirus as cases surge again across the U.S..

“This is really the next step,” said Brian Labus, an epidemiologist and assistant professor in UNLV’s School of Public Health.

Ongoing discussions to push government workers to get a shot come as more and more vaccinated people are getting infected throughout the county in so-called breakthrough cases. Yet unvaccinated people still account for the vast majority of cases, hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19.

SEIU Local 1107, the county’s largest labor union representing nearly 6,000 of the county’s 10,000 workers, will seek to bargain with the county over any proposed changes, according to spokesman Edward Webster.

Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom said he wants to ensure that unions are involved in discussions about vaccinations, which he suggested were a common-sense measure to protect people and economic interests.

“It’s not like there’s a question about (inoculation),” Segerblom said. “We know it works. It’s science. And we also know it’s critical for our economy.”

Vaccinations hit plateau

Coronavirus cases have been steadily rising for several weeks in Nevada after a full reopening June 1, and public health officials cite the spread of the more contagious delta variant and sluggish vaccination rates as major factors.

Immunizations have seen a slight uptick in state over the past month or so amid more outreach and new big-reward incentives, but officials remain persistent in trying to drive tallies higher.

“This is one of the ways we can increase our vaccination numbers,” Labus said about vaccine-or-test policies, adding that “it makes it a little less convenient” to remain not immunized.

Only half of people eligible for shots — those aged 12 years and older — are fully vaccinated in Clark County, according to the Southern Nevada Health District. About 63 percent have received at least a first dose.

It is unclear how many government employees in Southern Nevada have been vaccinated because officials said they do not track that data, although cities reported between 15 to 18 percent of their employees have tested positive for the coronavirus. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, a frequent critic of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s mask mandates and coronavirus closure orders, recently disclosed that she’d quarantined for 10 days after testing positive for COVID-19.

The county’s vaccine-or-test proposal would include workers at the county-owned University Medical Center, where 73 percent of hospital staff have been immunized, according to CEO Mason VanHouweling.

More than 90 percent of staff are vaccinated in some departments, but VanHouweling acknowledged “there are certain populations within the hospital that we’re all trying to target” through education and advocacy about vaccinations.

‘Shocked’ over subpar rates

Segerblom in a recent interview said he has been “shocked” to learn that some public health and safety worker groups have vaccination rates below 50 percent.

“I just can’t imagine what they see everyday and think some way or another it doesn’t apply to them,” he said.

The Review-Journal could not ascertain the rates among certain local public safety departments because unions that could be reached said they did not track employee immunizations.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which receives most of its funding from the county but operates independently, does track the data.

More than 3,000 employees, or nearly 53 percent of the workforce, have received a first dose of a vaccine, according to spokesman Larry Hadfield. Slightly under 3,000 workers, or 51.5 percent, are fully vaccinated.

Hadfield did not say whether Metro was considering its own vaccine-or-test policy but he noted that, since late May, all newly hired employees must get vaccinated. Sheriff Joe Lombardo said as recently as last month that the department encourages inoculation but would not mandate it.

“The more people who are vaccinated, especially those who interact regularly with people on an in-person basis, the more impact it will have on our community’s transmission rates,” said Jennifer Sizemore, a health district spokeswoman, in a statement.

Duty or personal decision?

At least one union leader is uncomfortable with the notion that public servants should be expected to serve as an example to the rest of the community with regard to vaccinations.

“To lay it at the feet of public safety folks and say that you need to be the shining example is definitely not fair,” said Steve Grammas, president of the Las Vegas Metro Police Protective Association.

Grammas, who said he was vaccinated but his wife was not, tells members to “make a good, informed decision” for themselves. He confirmed that 41-year-old officer Jason Swanger has been the only member from his police union to die from the virus.

Yet Grammas cautioned against mandating a vaccine — for which there is currently no legal framework in Nevada — and offered a hypothetical scenario where 70 percent of officers were against immunization.

The question would then become, he said, whether the police department and local governments would be willing to lose that many officers.

“They shouldn’t be forced or told you need to do this,” he said.

Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter. Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.