Nevada has a COVID vaccine access problem; legislative leader calls for state action

By April Corbin Girnus

Nevada Current

Amid turmoil within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and changes to COVID vaccine recommendations, one state legislative leader is calling on Nevada to take action.

The call comes after reports local public health agencies do not have the updated covid vaccine and private retail pharmacies in Nevada cannot administer it until further federal action is taken.

Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, a Democrat, on Thursday announced she has instructed legislative staff “to explore statutory and regulatory options to address this crisis.”

The options “could be considered at the first possible opportunity,” she added.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week began recommending COVID boosters only for people 65 or older and others at high risk of complications. Meanwhile, the CDC has stopped recommending the vaccine for children and pregnant women.

Prior to these changes, COVID vaccines and boosters were more widely available and recommended for anyone 6 months and up.

CVS, the nation’s largest retail pharmacy chain, told the New York Times and other media outlets that it will not offer the updated COVID-19 vaccine at all in Nevada, Massachusetts and New Mexico. The company told KTNV it’s because of a state law limiting what vaccines pharmacists can administer to those approved by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The ACIP has not yet weighed in on the newest formulation, which like the flu shot is updated every year.

In 13 other states, CVS is offering the vaccine but requiring prescriptions.

Cannizzaro criticized President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for showing “reckless disregard for Nevadans’ health and well-being by baselessly changing the eligibility requirements for new COVID vaccines and making it nearly impossible for many Nevadans to receive them.”

The Nevada’s Public Employees Benefits Program on Thursday told members that a vaccine clinic scheduled for Friday would not have the COVID vaccine available. PEBP provides insurance for more than 71,000 people, including current and former public sector employees and their families.

The Southern Nevada Health District and Northern Nevada Public Health this week confirmed they do not have the updated COVID-19 vaccine.

NNPH in a press release said it is “awaiting guidance” from the CDC’s ACIP “to determine a path forward in providing the updated COVID-19 vaccine.” The district anticipates the vaccine will be available “at the end of September or early October.”

The ACIP is scheduled to meet again on Sept. 18 and 19.

SNHD in its release said it “is preparing” to begin offering the updated COVID vaccine and will announce when it is available in its clinics. No time frame was given.

On Wednesday, SNHD announced it had the previous season’s COVID-19 vaccine available for eligible Nevadans who want it. The following day, the district walked back that offer, announcing in a release it had “received updated guidance” and would not be offering the previous formulation.

Dr. Cassius Lockett, the district health officer for SNHD, said in a statement that the health district “remains committed to providing COVID-19 vaccines to everyone who is eligible, including adults ages 65 and older and people with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk for severe illness.”

SNHD noted that the updated vaccine can be provided before the CDC’s ACIP meets but cautioned that “people should be aware that insurance coverage may change once the committee issues its final recommendations.”

Kennedy over the summer gutted the ACIP, which for decades has made the vaccine recommendations followed by states. New members appointed by Kennedy include vaccine skeptics.

California, Oregon and Washington on Wednesday announced a public health alliance to coordinate their own vaccine recommendations.

The West Coast states — all led by Democratic governors — formed a similar alliance at the onset of the covid pandemic in 2020. That alliance also included Nevada, which was at the time led by Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak.

(Meanwhile, Florida’s surgeon general this week stood alongside Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and announced the state would move to end all vaccine mandates for schoolchildren.)

Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican who ousted Sisolak in 2022, has called vaccines “positive” but said he is largely anti-mandate, saying it’s up to individuals to decide what is best for themselves and their children.

The Current has reached out to the governor for comment.

It’s unclear what, if anything, the Nevada State Legislature can do without the governor’s approval. Democrats control both chambers of the Legislature but not by the supermajorities required to overturn gubernatorial vetoes.

In Massachusetts — one of the other two states where CVS said it could not provide COVID vaccines — Democratic Gov. Maura Healey and state regulators have already taken action, including issuing an order allowing pharmacy workers to vaccinate.

The New Mexico Department of Health also issued a new health order instructing its Board of Pharmacy “to remove potential barriers and ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines at pharmacies across the state.” Like Massachusetts, New Mexico is also headed by a Democrat, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The Nevada State Legislature is not scheduled to meet until 2027 but Lombardo and Cannizzaro have both acknowledged that conversations about the prospect of a special session are happening behind the scenes.

Lombardo has said a special session might include his bills that failed to pass during the regular session earlier this year. He has also said that a proposed massive expansion of the film tax credit program is still on the table.

On her end, Cannizzaro has said the Legislature needs to address the impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is already straining Nevada Medicaid and the state budget

Last week, following a massive ransomware attack that has brought multiple state systems and services to a grinding halt, Cannizzaro told the Current any special session should also include cybersecurity as a topic.

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April Corbin Girnus is an award-winning journalist and deputy editor of Nevada Current. A stickler about municipal boundary lines, April enjoys teaching people about unincorporated Clark County. She grew up in Sunrise Manor and currently resides in Paradise with her husband, three children and one mutt.