LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Thousands of Nevadans 16 years old and older will become eligible to get their COVID-19 shots during the first week of April and while many are looking forward to it, they also hope that problems of the past are not repeated.
Long lines at vaccination sites, even with an appointment, the Southern Nevada Health District website crashing and just overall confusion are some of the issues we've seen with the rollout in Southern Nevada.
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Alicia Dupree is eagerly waiting for her turn but like many, she hopes everything runs smoothly.
"Is it going to be available, or readily available," she said.
"Is it going to be one of these panic scenarios again when we’re all going to rush and stock the vaccine," she said. "You know, me, me, me, me."
"I am excited but I'm very worried at the same time."
The Health District says it’s getting ready for the influx of people -- and this time it’s good they’re not starting from scratch.
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The troubleshooting they did in the past will now help them, SNHD says.
“We have the capacity in place right now to be able to expand to large numbers of people, but certainly not everybody is going to be able to get the vaccine on April 5," said Dr. Cort lohff, the chief medical officer and director of primary and preventive care at the Health District.
"Just because we don't enough vaccines available to everybody,“ he explained.
They’re asking people to be patient and persistent and to make reservations online once they become eligible to do so.
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The SNHD also points out there is an important distinction between first and second-dose appointments, and it urges people to be careful when booking to ensure the appointment
type is correct.
Health officials also ask if you’re not able to show up to an already booked appointment, reschedule it or cancel it so others can get their first dose.
