Nevada casinos should get workforce vaccinated to increase capability

The Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission on Friday issued a memo with guidelines pushing casinos to provide paid time off for employees to be vaccinated, coordinate transportation to vaccine sites and make arrangements with pharmacy companies for vaccine distribution.

The state on March 15 increased maximum gambling floor occupancy at 50% of capacity, up from 25%, and the regulators have been authorized beginning May 1 to approve reopening plans with higher occupancy limits.

The memo says Nevada’s hospitality workforce has a “relatively low degree of vaccination penetration,” though some companies have begun taking steps to encourage employees to be vaccinated.

"Both the Board and Commission urge licensees to be proactive in arranging for vaccination opportunities for their workforces, and to provide effective communication so that all employees that wish to avail themselves of such opportunities may do so," the memo says.

"Positive initiatives that have been undertaken by licensees, and the Board supports continuation of, include:

• Paid time off to staff for vaccination appointments;
• Arranging transportation for employees to public vaccination sites;
• Entering into agreements with pharmacy partners; and
• Underwriting private vendors to administer vaccines onsite using a POD distribution system.

Additional considerations for licensees in their vaccination efforts include:

• Have legal counsel, together with company leadership and HR staff, review EEOC guidance regarding what companies can and cannot do effectuate vaccinating workforce.
• Review your company’s vaccination plan for completeness and for efficacy in achieving employee
  vaccination.
• Take immediate remedial measures to correct deficiencies in company vaccination efforts, if necessary.
• Prepare to account to the Board on your company’s vaccination efforts if you seek increased gaming
  floor occupancy.
• Understand that if you wish to identify and contract with a private vaccination vendor, this is a limited resource, unlikely to have capacity to accommodate most licensees at this point, unless they are located out of state.
• Seek out opportunities to contract with retail pharmacies to travel to your sites to administer vaccine

MGM and Caesars

The two biggest Las Vegas casino companies — MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment — along with the Cosmopolitan and Wynn Resorts are already inoculating employees at clinics set up on their properties. And Station Casinos will open six on-site clinics Tuesday.

MGM said in a statement that vaccination “is a critically important tool in helping to end the pandemic and accelerate our community’s economic recovery.”

“We’re committed to doing all that we can to help get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible by removing barriers to access and bringing vaccination clinics directly to our employees and their families,” the MGM statement added.

Effective Monday, Nevada will increase its age-based eligibility for vaccinations to all people age 16 and older.