Caleb Cage, head of Nevada’s virus task force, announced Monday that every educator in every school district has either received at least their first vaccination shot, is scheduled for a shot or been offered a vaccination.
Nevada is one of the states that has designated teachers and school employees as a priority group to receive the vaccine.
In addition, he said, the state Division of Emergency Management has provided more than 4.5 million items of personal protective equipment to public, private, charter and tribal schools.
As of the end of February, Cage said 669,366 doses of vaccine have been administered in Nevada. That means almost 14 percent of Nevadans have now received at least one shot.
In addition, Candice McDaniel of the Behavioral Health Division said now that the third vaccine — by Johnson and Johnson — has been approved, she expects Nevada’s first allotment to arrive this week. She said Nevada will receive 24,000 doses of the new vaccine in week one.
She pointed out that the J&J vaccine only requires one shot and can be stored in a normal refrigerator.
Julia Peek of the behavioral health division pointed out that no new deaths were reported this past weekend and the virus numbers are continuing to decrease as they have since January.
The test positivity rate has fallen from a peak of well over 20 percent to just 7.5 percent statewide and the Nevada Hospital Association says there are currently 464 COVID-19 patients hospitalized. The 14-day rolling average of new virus cases is now down to just 311.
Six Nevada counties — Clark, Elko, Eureka, Mineral, Nye and Pershing — are still flagged for potential increased transmission of the virus. The remaining 11 Nevada counties are out from under that flag.
In Carson City, the positivity rate is 5.5 percent. Churchill County remains higher at 6.7 percent but Douglas is down to 5.2 percent, Lyon at 5.7 percent and Washoe at 5.9 percent.
Total statewide virus cases were at 293,980 as of Monday morning.
