Nevada employers requesting doses

Arnold M. Knightly

Nov. 6, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Reports that some major companies in New York have received allocations of swine flu vaccine to administer to at least some of their workers have prompted charges that the vaccine, still in short supply and not yet available to most Americans, is going to a favored few.

New York officials said that companies receiving doses must have medical staff and must follow federal guidelines for giving the vaccine. And they said that allowing large companies to administer the vaccine helps get more of it to people at risk.

Meanwhile, some large employers in Las Vegas are seeking to obtain doses of the vaccine.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas received "a few hundred" doses of the swine flu vaccine Thursday, and at least one Las Vegas gaming company has asked about acquiring the vaccine for its at-risk workers.

"Harrah's Entertainment's Employee Health and Wellness Center is in contact with the Southern Nevada Health District regarding H1N1," Harrah's spokeswoman Jacqueline Peterson said Thursday. "We have requested vaccinations for our employees and will follow the CDC's guidelines for distribution within our employee and dependent population."

Harrah's said its private health provider has asked health officials in all of the jurisdictions the corporation operates about obtaining vaccine for its eligible workers and dependents.

Because of the scarcity of the vaccine, health officials are restricting the vaccine to at-risk groups.

Priority groups that should be receiving vaccinations include women who are pregnant, caregivers of children under 6 months, people 6 months to 24 years old, and people 25 to 64 years old with chronic medical problems such as diabetes, asthma and obesity.

Federal guidelines allow businesses with on-site medical facilities to request doses of the vaccine for their workers.

Also, a doctor with the medical facility must have filed an anti-viral request form with the state seeking approval to receive and distribute the vaccine, a representative of the Nevada State Health Division said.

Harrah's runs a 20,000-square-foot worker medical center on Flamingo Road that is operated by a private company.

Nevada State Health Division spokeswoman Martha Framsted said she could not say whether Harrah's medical facility had filed a request with the state.

Framsted also could not say Thursday how many Las Vegas businesses that have on-site medical staff have inquired about receiving doses of the vaccine, if any.

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