The number of Nevadans getting vaccinated each day continues to slowly rise.
And with the full approval of the Pfizer vaccine this week, Candice McDaniel of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services said she thinks more Nevadans will get the shots.
She said the 14-day rolling average number of people getting shots is now up to 6,400, an increase of 200 from the week before.
“We hope this approval will give Nevadans the confidence to get the vaccination,” she said.
The second mRNA vaccine, Moderna, is also seeking full approval that would remove it from emergency status.
“Vaccinations are the only way out of this,” said Michelle White, chief of staff to Gov. Steve Sisolak.
While some raised concerns about breakthrough infections in people who have been vaccinated, Dr. Ellie Graeden, CEO of Talus Analytics, said those cases are extremely rare — making up four one-hundredths of a percent of cases. She said the vaccines are doing their job because hospitalizations and deaths among the vaccinated are very rare.
“They’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to do,” she said.
Asked about the rising positivity rate, Julia Peek, chief medical officer at the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, said that can in part be because the state is doing a lot more screenings and testing and, getting all that data coming in can effect the positivity.
The 14-day average for test positivity is now at 13.8 percent statewide. That’s actually lower than at any time in the past 10 days. A week ago, the rate was 15 percent.
Positivity is at 16.6 percent in Carson City, 12.9 percent in Clark and 19.6 percent in Washoe County.
Douglas is at 22.5 percent, Churchill at 9.9 percent and Lyon at 23.2 percent.
They are among the 12 Nevada counties flagged for risk of transmission of the virus. Counties are flagged when they fail two of three tests — failure to test at least 100 people per 100,000 residents, when cases exceed 200 per 100,000 population and have a test positivity rate higher than 8 percent.
The five that aren’t flagged are Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, Lincoln and Pershing counties.
As of Thursday morning, Nevada had identified 385,272 cases of COVID-19 and 6,398 deaths.
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