An equal number of Democrats and Republicans voted for and against a legislative proposal to keep requiring the coronavirus vaccine for college students in Nevada. This means that the proposal has been thwarted.
The Legislative Commission in Nevada was considering not only one regulation that would keep the mandate for state and community college students in place but also another for some state staffers and contractors. The legislators did not approve both regulations.
The Board of Health (BOH) had voted in an August 2021 emergency meeting to necessitate Nevada State of Higher Education students to get the vaccine. However, the emergency ordinance expired at the culmination of the semester in the fall season.
The Nevada State of Higher Education’s Joseph Reynolds stated that making vaccines mandatory is not a new move but rather has been part of the legislation and has occurred. As for Reynolds, mandates are necessary to continue the existing vaccine process to allow starting the spring season semester safely in an in-person setting with completely vaccinated students.
The Chancellor of NSHE, Melody Rose, released a memo following the ruling that instructs institutions to end registration holds on the basis of a student failing to meet the earlier mandate. The vote has no impact on the vaccine ordinance for university workers; all staffers and students must still use face masks.
The Office of Governor Steve Sisolak stated that Nevada would keep backing NHSE institutions when those get ready for the springtime semester safely.
Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health spokesperson Ihsan Azzam regards vaccination as the best way of preventing the transmission of coronavirus disease. Azzam stated that it has been shown that vaccination is effective against coronavirus strains. According to Azzam, should they develop COVID-19, vaccinated people are likelier to recuperate from illness faster and have a less chance of hospitalization.
Azzam does not find the vaccine perfect but regards it as effective in keeping severe COVID-19 cases from happening. For Azzam, vaccination is a way of preventing hospitals from getting crowded with coronavirus cases and preventing Nevada’s healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed.
Boulder City Senator Joseph Hardy supports the vaccination and eggs people to be vaccinated. However, Hardy was bothered about enforcing an ordinance as the epidemic keeps changing, because more coronavirus variants will emerge and more vaccines will come.
