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People from 55 to 64 with certain medical conditions are now eligible to get COVID-19 vaccinations at Nevada pharmacies, with no proof of medical status required...The state opened up eligibility this week to those in this age group with conditions ranging from cancer to smoking that put them at higher risk for serious disease from COVID-19...Eligibility also has been extended to those with conditions that only potentially put them at higher risk, such as asthma or dementia, as well as to those with disabilities or who are experiencing homelessness...READ MORE

Nevada on Thursday reported higher-than-average tallies of new coronavirus cases and additional fatalities over the preceding day...Updated figures from the Department of Health and Human Services posted to the state’s coronavirus website showed 571 new coronavirus cases and 14 additional deaths from Wednesday’s report. That brought cumulative totals for the state to 292,630 cases and 4,933 deaths...READ MORE

Nevada no longer has one of the worst COVID-19 vaccination rates per capita in the U.S., according to federal data...The Silver State had consistently ranked among the bottom five states at administering vaccine for weeks. It now ranks 12th worst, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported...READ MORE

Gov. Steve Sisolak has asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to look into why Nevada is near the bottom of the list for the amount of COVID-19 vaccine it has been allocated per capita...“We need our fair share of vaccine doses to stand up and sustain successful vaccination efforts to reach Nevadans in an equitable fashion,” Sisolak wrote in a letter to acting Health and Human Services Secretary Norris Cochran, according to a news release on Monday. “Through this letter I am asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to look into why Nevada is so low on the allocation list, and more important, to find ways to increase our allocation both immediately and for the long term.”...READ MORE

Health care companies and insurers were among the biggest spenders of the 2020 campaign cycle, shelling out more than $1 million on legislative campaigns over the two year period...That marks a sharp increase over the 2018 cycle, which saw just $744,000 in combined legislative campaign contributions from the industry...The Nevada Independent categorized and analyzed more than 7,700 individual contributions of more than $200 made to sitting Nevada lawmakers in 2019 and 2020...These contributions capture nearly all campaign spending throughout the two-year cycle, and more broadly show to whom the largest contributions flowed and how much those contributions were worth in the aggregate...not included is roughly $272,000 contributed by pharmaceutical companies. That fundraising total is large enough to justify a separate category in The Nevada Independent’s Follow the Money series, and a full breakdown of pharmaceutical campaign spending will be included in a later installment...READ MORE

Nevada health officials are still awaiting answers about why the state has one of the nation’s lowest COVID-19 vaccine allocations from the federal government...As of this week, the state remained ranked among the bottom 10 states in terms of vaccine allocation per capita. It had received about 21,070 first doses per 100,000 adult residents...READ MORE

Nevada health officials are sending a message to federal agencies allocating COVID-19 vaccines to states: Show us your math...Questions have dogged state officials since Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed Nevada consistently ranking near the bottom of national lists for both receiving vaccine doses and putting shots into arms...Each state’s vaccine allocation is purportedly proportional to its adult population, but officials have offered conflicting information on what year’s population numbers are being used...READ MORE

Nevada health officials reported Monday that about 1 in 6 people statewide has received at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine since shots became available in mid-December...“I do think progress is starting to finally click and continue to increase,” said James English, COVID-19 response operations chief in Washoe County, where state statistics show 16.8% of residents have received their first shot and 9.8% have been fully vaccinated...READ MORE

Following five years of partial accreditation, the UNLV School of Medicine announced...that it had been fully accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which oversees the accreditation process for medical schools in both the U.S. and Canada...“Full accreditation is an important milestone both for the university and the countless individuals who’ve dedicated so much to establish and build a thriving School of Medicine,” UNLV President Keith Whitfield said in a statement. “Today’s announcement is years in the making, and is a testament to the school’s faculty, staff, and exceptional future physicians who are committed to improving health care in Southern Nevada.”...READ MORE

Amid a slew of cuts attempting to mitigate projected budget shortfalls in a state largely dependent on tourism and gaming for revenue, state employees are protesting proposed changes that would reduce health care coverage options provided by the state...The proposed cuts in the Nevada Public Employees' Benefits Program budget would reduce life insurance benefits from $25,000 for an active employee to $15,000 and from $12,500 for a retiree to $7,500, eliminate long-term disability insurance and lower Medicare Health Reimbursement Arrangement contributions from $13 to $11 a month per year of service. Though Gov. Steve Sisolak in his State of the State address touted only a 2 percent state budget cut, programs such as PEBP are feeling the cuts more deeply than others...READ MORE