Nevada to extend COVID-19 activities pause into February

Nevada will extend the state's current COVID-19 activities pause into February and move away from the current tiered vaccination plan.  Governor Steve Sisolak made the announcement during a Monday afternoon news conference in Carson City.   The pause had been set to end January 15, but will be lengthened by 30 days.

The Governor says the HHS team predicts it’s likely Nevada won’t see the full impact of holidays and gatherings in December until around two weeks from now.  He adds we likely won’t see the full impact of New Year's Day until the end of the month.

In order to not add an increased burden on our hospitals, we must remain under these strict mitigation measures & change our behavior immediately. Like I’ve said many times, there is hope on the horizon, but full-scale vaccination will not occur until further into the year.

— Governor Sisolak (@GovSisolak) January 12, 2021

The state has already provided more than 61,000 doses of vaccine, with more than 8700 second doses.  There will now be "lanes of vaccination" running concurrently instead of a tiered system.

Update #2: Our essential, frontline workers & specific high-risk populations will move in two parallel lanes. So upon completion of the Healthcare Workforce and Support category, counties will move to vaccinate these two lanes concurrently in prioritized order. pic.twitter.com/Xp9F51e1M8

— Governor Sisolak (@GovSisolak) January 12, 2021

The Governor says the updated structure offers flexibility for those working in communities to ensure all doses are being used, while still maintaining an order of operation to the rollout of vaccines across different groups.