As vaccine interest wanes, Las Vegas pop-up clinics offer doses of fun

At the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign Monday evening, two lines were forming.

Go left, and you could pose for a picture in front of the iconic sign on the Strip. Go right, and you could get a COVID-19 vaccination, then get your photo taken with the sign and an Elvis impersonator.

For a moment, a tuxedoed groom with his bride appeared tempted to go to the right and get the shot.

“Can you drink after?” asked the groom, identifying himself as Mario from Ecuador, who then decided vaccination could wait until after his wedding night.

But tourists such as Mario were not the target of the event dubbed “Vaccines After Dark.” Instead, it took aim at locals looking for a dose of fun.

The event at the sign, as well as one Friday at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club near the Strip, was part of a new phase of the vaccination campaign featuring small, targeted pop-up clinics designed for convenience and, in some cases, entertainment value.

This approach worked with Michael Kopnitsky, 20, who got vaccinated at the sign event along with his girlfriend and a co-worker.

“They had a food truck, so we figured we could make it a whole thing,” said Kopnitsky, who was born and raised in Las Vegas. Getting vaccinated had been low on his to-do list, he said.

Sixty-eight people got vaccinated at the event, according to Immunize Nevada, the nonprofit sponsoring the event. These included people who said the appeal of the event overcame any indifference they had about getting the shot.

Most people in Southern Nevada who really want a shot already have gotten it, said Immunize Nevada’s Mayra Gonzalez. And so event organizers are coming up with enticements.

“If you get a vaccine, you get something else — something to make it stand out. You get an experience,” Gonzalez said.

Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones, who partnered with Immunize Nevada on the event, credited staffer Brandon Monson with the idea for a pop-up clinic at the sign. Monson in turn credited drinking a “really large cup of coffee” before brainstorming the idea.

Monday’s event attracted Nevada congresswoman Dina Titus as well as former congresswoman Shelley Berkley, now the chief executive for Touro University Nevada in Henderson, whose faculty and students were administering the shots.

The event at the Hustler Club may not have been as readily embraced, at least at first.

Club publicist Nick Vardakis said that he placed multiple calls to the Southern Nevada Health District over several weeks to pitch the idea before getting a response. He believes the success of a similar event in New Orleans may have opened doors.

The Las Vegas topless club offered its own perks to those getting vaccinated, such as a membership card granting free admission, a complimentary bottle of alcohol and free lap dances.

The event, which took place before the club opened for the evening, vaccinated 95 people, said health district representative Stephanie Bethel.

“We’re very, very pleased with the turnout,” said Sarah Lugo, senior community health nurse for the health district. “Every single shot counts.”

The events come at a time when numbers of daily COVID-19 vaccinations are falling, even as the health district announced Tuesday that more than 1 million first doses of vaccine had been administered in Clark County. Statewide, the 14-day average for daily vaccinations is under 11,000, down from more than 25,000 daily doses in mid April.

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