Each December, Immunize Nevada celebrates our coalition accomplishments and recognizes the immunization heroes and influencers among us. As part of National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW). We celebrate the heroes among us — stand-out immunization advocates who work tirelessly, and usually without recognition, to support community health. To simplify the process and extend the recognition, we did away with categories and are recognizing all nominated Big Shots. The 2021 nominees are made up of individuals, teams, professionals, volunteers, organizations, educators, clinicians and administrators.

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Alex Vong, Albertsons  
Albertsons is a trusted partner and provider that we treasure for their marvelous support and reliability in assisting Immunize Nevada to host multiple clinics here in Las Vegas. We have a positive relationship with their District Pharmacy Manager, Pharmacists, and Technicians which allows us to successfully run pop-up events with ease and their friendly, approachable manner truly shines when our patients come back to us to say how nice and easy the process of vaccination became, and that is all thanks to the spectacular individuals we work with at Albertsons.
Alex has always been an outstanding partner ever since my first day of working with him. The tremendous effort he puts into making sure our requests are accommodated and the genuine care he has for each patient makes me very happy to be working alongside such an amazing individual. Seeing Alex progress in his position also deserves recognition. Going from our usual Pharmacist to District Pharmacy Manager truly shows how hard he's worked throughout the pandemic and continues to do even more with his new role. Although I am saddened this means our interactions are limited due to his busier role, Alex is still one of our valued partners and has saved me multiple times with last minute requests. He's one of the main reasons Albertson's is my go-to provider anytime I need assistance as I know they will do their best to help us out. Our close partnership is one of the many reasons our clinics with the Asian Community Development Council is such a success, with many of our patients complementing their kindness and gentleness while administering vaccinations.  

Alexis Madera, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Administrative support is often understated, and I would like the staff that works with the CHNs to get recognition and credit for the work that they do to ensure successful events. Without their assistance, the CHNs would not be able to conduct the number of events or vaccinate the number of individuals that they are able to with support of registration, paper management, data entry into WebIZ, set-up/tear-down, scheduling, outreach, and a host of other tasks necessary for operations. The teamwork and assistance provided is essential and greatly appreciated.

Allison Anderson, Optimumedicine          
Allison is the kid whisperer. Whenever we have clinics with children, we try to always ask for Allison to be there. She is the sweetest, kindest, and most caring person! She cares about each of her patients and you can really tell whenever they leave; they always have a smile on their face. Allison is always ready to have fun at the clinic and help out where she can. Thank you so much for all that you do Allison!

Amanda Savage, Sunrise Children’s Foundation WIC                     
Amanda is a big part of the community here in Las Vegas. She has worked the entire pandemic while volunteering to do outreach within the community to help others. She continues to make room on her plate for anything her company or networks may offer.

Ashley Jones, Bright Futures Durango
I have worked with Ashley for almost 4 years now.  She has been vaccine coordinator and now manager at her clinic.  She always puts her best effort in to ensuring compliance with the VFC program and improving vaccination rates.

Asian Community Development Council    
The Asian Community Development Council excels at their work and they remain to be an outstanding partner of Immunize Nevada, helping us connect with the Asian community and becoming a trusted source of vaccine-related information for the population they serve. We've hosted countless of clinics at their office since the beginning of the vaccine rollout and our efforts strongly remains even to this day. We have administered more than 1,500 COVID-19 and Flu doses already and with our continued partnership, we expect this number to grow even more. ACDC is one of our many valued partners and it is an honor to work with exceptional members of their team to coordinate future clinics at locations and populations where health services are needed the most.

Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell, MD, Carbon Health; Washoe County Medical Society        
Dr BCW never says no.  Can you help at a vaccine clinic with Second Baptist Church?  Yes.  Can you call a UNR basketball student that is Black and has extreme vaccine hesitancy and might respond better to someone other than a 30-something white woman telling him why vaccines are important?  Yes.  and she is always the most kind person in the room

Dr. BCW has worked tirelessly since the pandemic began to educate, encourage and support  Nevada residents to become vaccinated against COVID. She are worked with communities of color, faith groups, young people's groups (athletes, college, etc). She has posted podcasts, done interviews locally, regionally and nationally. All while maintaining a full-time career and being mother to two young daughters. She's gone anywhere, anytime she's asks.

Bernadette Sena, State of NV-DPBH-CHS                    
Administrative support is often understated, and I would like the staff that works with the CHNs to get recognition and credit for the work that they do to ensure successful events. Without their assistance, the CHNs would not be able to conduct the number of events or vaccinate the number of individuals that they are able to with support of registration, paper management, data entry into WebIZ, set-up/tear-down, scheduling, outreach, and a host of other tasks necessary for operations. The teamwork and assistance provided is essential and greatly appreciated.

Dr. Bryce Putnamm, Elko County                
I met Dr Putnam for the first time when I went to Elko a week ago and he is exactly where he needs to be both in location-he works so well within the challenging community of Elko; and public health, he is kind, approachable and knowledgeable.

Bernadett Sena and Shannin Pierce, White Pine County Community Health
Shannin and Bernadett were able to serve 843 patients during their 6 hour flu POD. They not only did a drive through POD they also had rovers serving the jail, schools, health care providers and their homebound residents ensuring no one in White Pine County went without access.

Carla Hilts, Immunize Nevada           
Carla has been an outstanding volunteer with Immunize Nevada over the course of the past year. Carla began volunteering with Immunize Nevada as a nurse volunteer when the COVID-19 vaccine first became available to the public. She has volunteered at over 25 COVID clinics across Las Vegas and in Pahrump and has served over 125hrs of her time to vaccinating the community. Carla also served as a volunteer during Vax Nevada Days and assisted the team with that effort as well. Carla is kind, hardworking, and an amazing advocate for the community, even bringing along her family members to clinics to volunteer. Carla continues to show up and participate as a volunteer and it has been a great pleasure having her a part of #TeamVaccine!

Carson City Health & Human Services
vaccine while at the same time continuing to serve the community with routinely recommended vaccines for all age groups.  They stock vaccines for VFC eligible children, insured children, 317 eligible adults and insured adults.  They are a well organized team that hosts large vaccination events with ease.  They should be recognized for their tireless efforts. 

Chelsea Becht, State of NV-DPBH-CHS          
Administrative support is often understated, and I would like the staff that works with the CHNs to get recognition and credit for the work that they do to ensure successful events. Without their assistance, the CHNs would not be able to conduct the number of events or vaccinate the number of individuals that they are able to with support of registration, paper management, data entry into WebIZ, set-up/tear-down, scheduling, outreach, and a host of other tasks necessary for operations. The teamwork and assistance provided is essential and greatly appreciated.

Cheryl Haas, State of NV-DPBH-CHS 
Administrative support is often understated, and I would like the staff that works with the CHNs to get recognition and credit for the work that they do to ensure successful events. Without their assistance, the CHNs would not be able to conduct the number of events or vaccinate the number of individuals that they are able to with support of registration, paper management, data entry into WebIZ, set-up/tear-down, scheduling, outreach, and a host of other tasks necessary for operations. The teamwork and assistance provided is essential and greatly appreciated.

Children's Urgent Care and Pediatric Clinic                    
Children's Urgent Care and Pediatric Clinic has been in practice more than 20 years. Operating two clinics and taking care of countless patients. They are seeing children of children that they saw. During Covid-19, still managed to stay open and take care of their patients. Phone calls are made and emails are sent reminding parents how important vaccinations are and when they are due. The staff and providers go above and beyond to take care of their kiddos.

Cici Chalearnlap, Albertson's       
Cici has always been an amazing vaccinator at our ACDC clinics, where she is known for her gentle, caring nature that softens even the most formidable patient. Her reliability and outgoing personality make her highly requested among our partners who have had the chance to work with her, which comes to no surprise seeing how easy it is to get along with Cici. Her dedication in her field and commitment of supporting ACDC and Immunize Nevada's mission earns her the respect of the Southern Nevada CHW team and, more importantly, her peers and superiors at Albertson's who oversaw her hard work and progression (going from an intern of Albertson's and then became a licensed Pharmacist soon after).

Crystal Kennedy, State of NV-DPBH-CHS  
Community Health Nurses (CHNs) have worked tirelessly in the rural and frontier communities providing a variety of ACIP recommended vaccinations and ensuring vaccine access and equity. Vaccination events have been through their clinics; Points of Distribution (PODs); support of Mobile Vaccination Units (MVUs); travel to remote communities they serve for events; congregate living facilities; schools and back to school clinics; and private businesses. They have also mastered the everchanging recommendations, ordering, recording, storage and handling, reconciliation, and catch-up schedules. Since the start of the pandemic, CHNs have been flexible, worked long hours and weekends to provide these essential services. Their dedication and teamwork are greatly appreciated.

Daniel Corona, Director of JAS Senior Center/Mayor of West Wendover                 
Mayor Corona wears multiple hats in his duties in West Wendover including running a non profit that serves the Senior Citizens with daily congregate meals as well as a food pantry that was a lifeline to Wendover citizens when the town was essentially shut down due to COVID-19. Daniel has been a proponent of vaccines and often promotes his own vaccination status on his social media platforms as a form of promoting the safety of vaccines. Mayor Corona has also worked tirelessly to ensure that vaccine equity is established for this population that is often overlooked. He has reached out to Immunize Nevada on multiple occasions to get educational information, to assist patients in obtaining their vaccine records from the Nevada State Immunization Program and has worked with county and state officials to ensure that West Wendover was included as a part of the Mobile Vaccination Unit during May of 2021. Mayor Corona goes far and above for his constituents to promote public safety and the importance of vaccines during this time.

Dawn Scheetz, RN, CHN, State of NV-DPBH-CHS 
Community Health Nurses (CHNs) have worked tirelessly in the rural and frontier communities providing a variety of ACIP recommended vaccinations and ensuring vaccine access and equity. Vaccination events have been through their clinics; Points of Distribution (PODs); support of Mobile Vaccination Units (MVUs); travel to remote communities they serve for events; congregate living facilities; schools and back to school clinics; and private businesses. They have also mastered the everchanging recommendations, ordering, recording, storage and handling, reconciliation, and catch-up schedules. Since the start of the pandemic, CHNs have been flexible, worked long hours and weekends to provide these essential services. Their dedication and teamwork are greatly appreciated.

Dena Mattice, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Community Health Nurses (CHNs) have worked tirelessly in the rural and frontier communities providing a variety of ACIP recommended vaccinations and ensuring vaccine access and equity. Vaccination events have been through their clinics; Points of Distribution (PODs); support of Mobile Vaccination Units (MVUs); travel to remote communities they serve for events; congregate living facilities; schools and back to school clinics; and private businesses. They have also mastered the ever-changing recommendations, ordering, recording, storage and handling, reconciliation, and catch-up schedules. Since the start of the pandemic, CHNs have been flexible, worked long hours and weekends to provide these essential services. Their dedication and teamwork are greatly appreciated.

Devon Eisma, Optimumedicine
Devon is truly a one of a kind amazing person. He fiercely and courageously leads Optimumedicine with such a kind heart for both patients and employees alike. Kind hearted people who are passionate to help anyone in need no matter the situation is hard to find and is extremely EXTREMELY appreciated. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and he wears it proudly for you can tell just by having one conversation with him how much he cares to serve those in need. Devon is truly the epitome of a gentle giant! Him and his entire team are incredibly willing to adapt and listen to feedback that we may have. Devon is inspiring in which he will take on any challenge or obstacle to be able to serve his community right. We can always count on Devon. We are so grateful for Devon and all of his hard work to help make our clinics be successful!

Dhruv Patel, Roseman/Vons    
Dhruv always brings his energetic and lively energy to every clinic! Even though he is still a student at Roseman, you can tell he is ready to take on and tackle being a pharmacist. The way he interacts with patients is so amazing. Dhruv is able to comfort any patient and dispel any worries that they may have. He brings fresh energy is always there to provide a good laugh. Thank you for all that you do Dhruv! 

Diana Sande and Zach Dupin, The Larsen Institute   
Diana, Zach, and their team at the Larsen Institute for Health Equity and Impact have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to educate marginalized communities about COVID-19 and the vaccine and empower them to get vaccinated. From education campaigns across local media, to grassroots efforts such as door knocking, to partnering with local churches to host massively successful vaccine clinics, there are few organizations in Nevada that have done more to end this pandemic than The Larsen Institute.

Dream Big Nevada  
Dream Big Nevada provides immigration aid but they have fostered so much trust in the community they serve that they have become a resource for so much more. They have been amazing partners who helped bring covid-19 and flu vaccines to the underserved Latino community especially immigrants who are uninsured. They work hard to advertise for clinics from calling and texting all their clients to advertising on a Spanish radio station and social media. They take the time to answer all the client's questions. Astrid, Dulce and Jose keep in communication with me so we're all on the same page with clinic planning. In addition, they are very involved and helpful during the clinics. It is evident they really care about their community. Astrid and Dulce are very charismatic and personable with the patients. They are all truly a pleasure to work with!

Emelyn Espanol, SAV-ON Pharmacy (Albertson's LLC)
Emelyn is a stellar pharmacist able to do the work of multiple professionals on her own with great ease. Her dedication to provide easy and accessible immunization opportunities for the Asian-American population in Las Vegas does not go unnoticed and her hard work at clinics with the Asian Community Development Council is greatly appreciated by staff and patient alike. Emelyn's bright demeanor and never-ending smile is able to get us through even the most difficult of times and her genuine kindness and compassion for all, serves as a reminder for us in Public Health, the importance of authenticity and empathy to the partners we work with and the community we serve.

Erika Marquez, One Community, One Response
Dr. Erika Marquez had spearheaded the One Community One Response effort through the Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition to develop and disseminate culturally and linguistically relevant campaigns about COVID-19 vaccines to the communities in Nevada that are most severely impacted by the pandemic. To inform the development and disseminatation of these campaigns—including flyers, social media, radio ads, TV commercials, billboards, and townhalls— Dr. Marquez developed strategic partnerships with community-based organizations throughout Nevada to leverage their expertise of their communities and their existing networks. Additionally, in partnership with Immunize Nevada, she established the Nevada Vaccine Equity Collaborative (NVEC) to bring together advocates throughout the state to share resources and strategies to better address barriers to vaccine equity. Dr. Marquez has made a key contribution to the NVEC by developing its capacity to regularly provide data on geographic areas with lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates and highest levels of infections and social vulnerability—information that informs decisions about outreach, education, and pop-up vaccine locations. Dr. Marquez has worked tirelessly throughout the course of the pandemic to serve those most affected by COVID-19, her work has reached hundreds of thousands and contributed to higher COVID-19 vaccination uptake in hard-to-reach communities throughout our state.

Eryca Gonzalez, Immunize Nevada volunteer
Eryca shines as a volunteer with her enthusiasm and seeing her passion to be in the field and assist all CHWs at the pop-up clinics with such willingness is always a pleasure to see. She does her best at every event she attends and is incredibly detailed with her communication, making coordination and strategizing of clinics much easier on all ends. Having the ability of adapting to unforeseeable circumstances and taking charge of matters at hand makes her a valued member of our on-site team and many of our successful events would not have been possible without her assistance.

Eugenie Walker, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Administrative support is often understated, and I would like the staff that works with the CHNs to get recognition and credit for the work that they do to ensure successful events. Without their assistance, the CHNs would not be able to conduct the number of events or vaccinate the number of individuals that they are able to with support of registration, paper management, data entry into WebIZ, set-up/tear-down, scheduling, outreach, and a host of other tasks necessary for operations. The teamwork and assistance provided is essential and greatly appreciated.

Francisco Ortiz, OptimuMedicine
Francisco has been working with Immunize Nevada as a contracted vaccinator with the State since June of 2021. He worked with Impact Health and is now working under OptimuMedicine. Francisco had quickly and most deservingly made himself into a team lead for his vaccination team during his time with Impact Health. Now, working under OptimuMedicine, he naturally uses his skills and is thriving in ensuring our vaccine clinics are successful. He is a huge team player and is very collaborative with the IZNV staff leads at clinics. He brings so much joy and fun to our clinics and lights up every room he walks into. He is one of those people you can always count on! Francisco understands the importance of the experience for each patient at our clinics and he does so well at helping his patients feel calm and comfortable in what can be a scary experience. He is also bilingual and poses as a huge help when having to translate at our predominantly Latinx community clinics. Francisco is an important asset to our team and we are so grateful for him and his hard work!

Golden Health Family Medical Center
Golden health worked tirelessly to get all available covid-19 vaccines and offer them to all eligible patients.  This has continued throughout every phase of vaccination, and many remote vaccine clinics were done to provide more convenience for the eligible patients. The amazing team at Golden Health took the unprecedented task of giving Covid and flu shots, continue to do drive through, walk in and on-site clinics for the mining community of Elko (NGM)

Grace Silva, Immunize Nevada volunteer"
Grace Silva has been an extraordinary volunteer. Since our very first Little Flower vaccination clinic, Grace has volunteered at nearly every follow up clinic at that location. She is bilingual and uses her Spanish to help communicate with our Spanish speaking attendees. Her translation skills are incredibly valuable and allow us to serve this population equitably. No matter how busy these clinics get, Grace remains calm and is always ready to help.

Guy Girardin, Puentes Las Vegas
Guy is the President of Puentes Las Vegas and has been a long time partner with Immunize Nevada. He is very ambitious and passionate about the work he does in serving our underserved populations here in Nevada. Guy is the type of person you see is constantly working and giving out of the kindness of his heart. You think to yourself "does this guy ever take a break?!" He has a huge network and acts as a trusted resource in the community and aids in promoting other organizations' events happening all over Las Vegas, in addition to planning and organizing his own events. Guy/Puentes has been a valuable partner to Immunize Nevada especially when it comes to providing access to vaccines and other health resources in the communities he and his organization serves. He is very collaborative and flexible with our IZNV staff leads and acts as a very important asset in coming up with better ways to serve our communities here in Las Vegas. We appreciate having Guy as a partner and for all of his tireless efforts!

Dr. Jacqueline Huynh, UNR Department of Family & Community Medicine; Elko
Dr Huynh jumped right at the chance to help with our first Tele Town Hall in Elko as well, having her knowledge and kind expertise available to those in her community was so valuable.

Janice Empie, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Administrative support is often understated, and I would like the staff that works with the CHNs to get recognition and credit for the work that they do to ensure successful events. Without their assistance, the CHNs would not be able to conduct the number of events or vaccinate the number of individuals that they are able to with support of registration, paper management, data entry into WebIZ, set-up/tear-down, scheduling, outreach, and a host of other tasks necessary for operations. The teamwork and assistance provided is essential and greatly appreciated.

Jessica Ciesielski, Intermountain Healthcare                                        
Jessica is always working toward improving practice and encourages clinic to educate patients and families on the importance of vaccinations.

Jonathan Cho, MountainView Hospital                                
I am nominating Jonathan Cho, Pharmacy Director at MountainView for his tireless work in our COVID-19 vaccination campaign. He coordinated clinics, got colleagues to the clinics, answered questions from employees. He oversaw 2,475 Pfizer vaccines being administered, 2,194 Moderna vaccines administered and quickly stood up booster clinics. "Waste" was a huge concern of his. There were no wasted vaccines, 1st or s2nd doses of either Pfizer or Mondera. During our booster clinics, of the 686 booster vaccines administered, only three were "wasted." This was possible because Jonathan was committed to not wasting any doses, and when people didn't show up he would find them - or additional employees and convince them to get the vaccine. During the recent back and forth with government and state mandates, Jonathan has continued to inform and be a resource for colleagues. Jonathan is committed to the health and safety of our colleagues, volunteers, patients and community. His leadership during this has been tremendous.

Dr. Jonathan Slothower, Slothower Pediatrics                          
Dr Slothower did not hesitate to jump right in and volunteer for our first Tele Town Hall serving the Elko population, knowing how important it was for that audience to hear from someone that lives where they live and is already a member of their community

Jorge Alonso Jr.,                          
I've worked with Alonso for a long time and he is an amazing volunteer. He is a hard worker who finds the time to volunteer even though he has a demanding job and is a student. He is very reliable and punctual even when he works a night shift! At clinics he is always willing to help with whatever is needed. He speaks Spanish fluently which is a very big help! And most importantly he is always kind and helpful to patients.

Josielyn Sy, Walmart                                   
Josielyn is fully equipped and knowledgeable on what she does. Her customer service and attention to details skill is very impressive. Easily to understand providing information and very patience and attentive to the kids specially giving the shots that my son who is afraid of vaccination didn’t even flinch or cry, when she said to my on it is done he just look at her and told her that he didn’t even feel it. Very confident and highly skilled on what she does.

Josielyn is a pharmacist at Walmart. She gives immunization to people who are needing vaccines especially covid-19 vaccines/booster. She encouraged me and other people to get the vaccine. She educated my family on the importance of getting vaccines. And not only that, she is so patient when giving them, especially to kids like my son, who is very scared of receiving injections. She made it a point that my son will focus on the benefit that he will got from the vaccine and not the pain from the needle. Josielyn gives different tips and ways to overcome your fear.  She is very professional and competent with what she does. Very knowledgeable with immunization specially covid19 vaccines. She possesses the qualities of the best immunization pharmacist. She has good work ethics. She works even during weekends. She goes to work when someone called out and helps other Walmart branch when needed. Josielyn provides good customer service and very patient with kids or adults who have fear of needle she follows up and reminds you if you are due for your next shot. She is a team player. She can be a pharmacist, dispensing medications and advising patients regarding their medications, can do pharm tech job and can give immunization. She is very diligent and adheres to company policy and protocol when giving immunization.

Josielyn Sy is an extraordinary pharmacist at Walmart. When most people stayed home, she continued to show up to work and worked long hours to serve her community. The challenge that the pandemic brought us did not intimidate this fantastic and skilled pharmacist. Her dedication and profound passion for healthcare inspire others because she always puts others' needs first, and advocating for her patient is her priority. Despite her busy pharmacy schedule, her deep passion for immunization did not go unnoticed. She truly believes in prevention and loves educating her community about the vaccine and its purpose, an outstanding vaccine influencer.  She vaccinates hundreds of people – from toddlers to older adults. She goes beyond expectation and takes her time to ensure that patients understand what vaccine they are getting and clearly explains the drug mechanism to the level that even a five-year-old kid can understand. Josielyn is such an incredibly smart and brilliant pharmacist and a blessing to our community! Thank you for your service!

Keith Bartleson, Next Marketing
I am nominating Keith because he always worked so hard to make sure our clinics were marketed and seen by the public! With every clinic he worked to improve banner and sinage placement. Additionally, he made sure that all of Impact Healths staff and Immunize Nevadas staff were comfortable and safe. 

Kelsey Maxim, Community Health Alliance
Community Health Alliance’s pharmacies have undergone tremendous changes since the start of the pandemic. This amazing team has adjusted from mask-wearing and six feet apart waiting rooms to temporarily offering curbside pickup and permanently offering delivery of prescriptions. They have supported the changes that pharmacy has adapted including offering COVID and flu vaccines in various ways, including employee events at six different health centers, daily walk-in clinics open to the entire community, large-scale weekend events such as COVID-19 PODs, Fiesta on Wells and Dia de los Muertos.

Kelsey Maxim, Community Health Alliance’s Director of Retail Pharmacy, has been a key player in Community Health Alliance’s role as a lead vaccine administrator for our community. She has carefully planned, staffed and participated in over 140+ northern Nevada vaccine clinics in 2021. She continues to increase their vaccine outreach efforts and is planning multiple COVID-19 clinics with the school district in December 2021. She has also built a workplace vaccine clinic program for Community Health Alliance where organizations can invite the pharmacy team to their workplace to vaccinate their employees against COVID-19 and the flu. I am in awe of her efforts! She makes our community a safer and healthier place to live.

Kelsey is the Director of Retail Pharmacy Services at Community Health Alliance in Reno. I have been working directly with Kelsey mainly on Back to School and catch-up vaccine efforts since earlier this year, and Kelsey has always been excited to partner with Immunize Nevada on these efforts. She is very involved in clinic planning meetings and ensuring we are reaching underserved populations at these clinics that CHA partners with us at.

Kevin Fortunato, Optimumedicine
Kevin is just so amazing. Whenever he is in the room, it just lights up. He makes everyone around him feel so comfortable and at ease. His smile and laugh is very contagious. He always takes the time to acknowledge patients and talk to them before vaccinating them. Kevin is extraordinary as he always goes to our clinics back to back even if the amount of time he can rest before is so little. I am so thankful and grateful for Kevin. Thank you Kevin for being you and for being awesome! We appreciate you!

Keyla Solorio, Washoe County Health Department
Keyla goes above and beyond, working, volunteering, and being a big part of making this community stronger through education, and helping keep our community healthy.

Kiddies Pal Pediatrics
Dr. Minuskin is an outstanding provider and advocate for vaccinating our community.  Dr. Minuskin and his medical assistant Tara are knowledgeable and go above and beyond when providing patient care.

Kim LaMotte-Malone, MD, Anthem Hills Pediatrics
Dr. LaMotte is advocate for all children and adolescents to receive all vaccines to protect them from diseases. She strongly encourages parents and/or guardians. She takes the time to explain the pros and the cons of vaccines.

Kris Gist, Immunize Nevada Volunteer
Kris has been a volunteer with Team Vaccine for about a year and a half. Kris has consistently showed up to various types of events - COVID / flu clinics, BTS clinics, outreach events, WebIZ lookup, and more. She is very passionate about Immunize Nevada's mission and is such a natural with members of our community. Kris is also very communicative with me (Outreach Coordinator) if she is unable to make it to an event for any reason, but more often than not Kris is attending at least one event a week, always looking to be involved even more than she is. She is an outstanding volunteer, and has earned praise from various members of the Team Vaccine staff!
I am nominating Kris because she is an amazing volunteer and the kindest human being. She is wonderful to work with and we have built such a special relationship together! I'm so thankful that she joined Immunize Nevada and I'm so proud of all the work she has done with our organization! All in all she is the BEST!!

Lisa Hammel, Smith's Pharmacy She has been an amazing vaccinator to work with. She has been incredibly accommodating, supportive and just an overall pleasure to work with. We have reached out to her time and time again to help with our rouitne/BTS clinics and I could not ask for a better partner. If she can't physically be at the events, her coordination skills have swooped in and saved the day. She cares about her community and it shows.

Margaret Copas, Wee Care Pediatrics
Margaret is always amazing to work with.  She is professional, knowledgeable and consistent with the work that she produces.  Margaret ensures all clinic locations maintains compliance with the VFC program and continues to make strides to improving immunization rates.

Marsha Foreman RN, DPBH-CHS; DHHS - Community Health Clinic
Community Health Nurses (CHNs) have worked tirelessly in the rural and frontier communities providing a variety of ACIP recommended vaccinations and ensuring vaccine access and equity. Vaccination events have been through their clinics; Points of Distribution (PODs); support of Mobile Vaccination Units (MVUs); travel to remote communities they serve for events; congregate living facilities; schools and back to school clinics; and private businesses. They have also mastered the everchanging recommendations, ordering, recording, storage and handling, reconciliation, and catch-up schedules. Since the start of the pandemic, CHNs have been flexible, worked long hours and weekends to provide these essential services. Their dedication and teamwork are greatly appreciated.

Marsha Foreman is the community health nurse in Winnemucca and Lovelock and to say she's been a  vaccine warrior over the past year is an understatement. Marsha showed up for her community when others stayed home. She has given over five thousand vaccines in Winnemucca alone. Sometimes in the blistering heat other times in below freezing weather. Marsha is the most caring and compassionate nurse I know and deserves to be recognized for her outstanding effort to keep her community safe. She is far too often overlooked and not appreciated. Let her know her effort has not been in vain. Thank you

Matt McCarty, Executive Director The Terraces at Ruby View
Mr. McCarty has been an amazing advocate for the seniors of the Elko community by assisting in the organization of flu and COVID-19 vaccines in their building. McCarty has been available after hours to discuss concerns of those who reach out to him or to get education information on evolving public health issues. Matt has been spectacular in assisting patients in paperwork ahead of time, making sure that strategic planning for each event is impeccable and is always willing to assist in any manner necessary during events. In a county that is not always accepting of COVID 19 vaccines he has championed those who want to be a part of Elko returning to pre-pandemic normal. 

Melanie Kelly, Safeway
Melanie has graciously offered her time at many Immunize Nevada community clinics and vaccinated countless Nevadans. She has even traveled to locations in Nevada that were more than 50 miles from the nearest Safeway Pharmacy. She has put patients at the forefront of her efforts to get them vaccinated and played a significant role in getting our communities vaccinated against COVID-19 in the field all while managing her store in Sparks and getting people vaccinated there as well. Mel truly cares about her patients and has an incredible gift making them feel comfortable and confident. Thank you Mel!

Michael Zapanta, Vons
Michael is so friendly, caring, kind, and just an overall amazing person. Michael is always on top of things and prepared for anything. He always knows what to do if something goes astray. We can always rely on Michael for he is so flexible and accommodating! Any clinic with Michael is always a smooth clinic. Thank you Michael for being such an amazing partner! We appreciate you so much here at Immunize Nevada!

Nicole Batien, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Administrative support is often understated, and I would like the staff that works with the CHNs to get recognition and credit for the work that they do to ensure successful events. Without their assistance, the CHNs would not be able to conduct the number of events or vaccinate the number of individuals that they are able to with support of registration, paper management, data entry into WebIZ, set-up/tear-down, scheduling, outreach, and a host of other tasks necessary for operations. The teamwork and assistance provided is essential and greatly appreciated.

Nicole Martin, Immunize Nevada volunteer
Nicole's superb knowledge and skill makes her an ideal volunteer, capable of solving problems and answering questions without hesitancy on the fly. Her work at every clinic she has attended is nothing short of exceptional and Nicole's innate ability of problem-solving, coupled with her patience and professionalism makes her an amazing addition to all of our events.

Noor Kordi, Immunize Nevada
Noor's cordial disposition paired with her skillset earns her an honorary IZNV staff member status, as we have joked about in the past. Her mastery of WebIZ and intake processing was crucial in many of our past events, especially during the back-to-school season when each event had more than the expected count of attendees show up. Although busy with her final year in school, Noor still dedicates a bit of her time with us to assist in clinics each month and her contribution is renowned and celebrated by all of our team members who have had the pleasure of working with her.
Noor has been a volunteer with Team Vaccine for about a year and a half. Even though I’ve never worked with Noor directly at an event, I’ve heard from many CHW’s and IZNV staff that she’s an exceptional volunteer that’s always so helpful at our clinics and stays true to our mission. She’s volunteered many times as an individual volunteer and has also helped bring volunteers through the AMSA program from UNLV to some of our events. She’s always so communicative and is always finding different ways to be involved. You can tell Noor genuinely enjoys helping people and brings her extensive vaccine knowledge out into the community, always leading with respect and empathy.

Pamela Krause, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Community Health Nurses (CHNs) have worked tirelessly in the rural and frontier communities providing a variety of ACIP recommended vaccinations and ensuring vaccine access and equity. Vaccination events have been through their clinics; Points of Distribution (PODs); support of Mobile Vaccination Units (MVUs); travel to remote communities they serve for events; congregate living facilities; schools and back to school clinics; and private businesses. They have also mastered the everchanging recommendations, ordering, recording, storage and handling, reconciliation, and catch-up schedules. Since the start of the pandemic, CHNs have been flexible, worked long hours and weekends to provide these essential services. Their dedication and teamwork are greatly appreciated.

Pastor Julie Vice, Faith Lutheran Church/St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Pastor Vice has been instrumental in getting not one but both of the congregations she serves vaccinated. Each church has a 99% COVID-19 vaccination rate. She has worked not only for those who attend her services in person but also for those who are residents at the local nursing home to ensure that when she meets with her congregrents there is little chance of spreading the virus. This work has included not only working and advocating with local and county leaders but insisting that those who are home bound or unable to attend a clinic in person be afforded the opportunity to become vaccinated as well. Despite the low numbers of overall vaccination in the County Pastor Vice has encouraged the church members to get vaccinated against COVID and Flu and has offered both of her churches as sites for future vaccine spots for Immunize Nevada.

Patricia Tindall, Pleasant Senior Center
As Director of the Pleasant Senior Center, Patti has been a fierce advocate for the seniors she serves. This has never been more apparent than when she worked to secure a vaccinator for booster doses at her facility. She coordinated with local media to ensure it was advertised and worked with her staff to ensure a smooth set up. On clinic day she helped calm nerves as vaccinators were delayed. She spent the entire day celebrating with those who got their booster, answering questions, smoothing over patrons who fretted about the wait times, and was very willing to share her thoughts about the importance of the vaccine with anyone hesitant or unsure. Our seniors have had a rough two years and they are lucky to have such a strong supporter in Patti.

Paul McCollum, Little Flower Church
I work for an organization at UNR called COVIDCrew. We were originally formed to create culturally competent COVID-19 information for our Spanish-speaking community. Once the vaccines were approved, we moved to to conducting vaccine outreach in the Latinx community with the intent of setting up a clinic for them. Knowing that our clinic would be most effective in a location familiar with our target population, we started reaching out to local churches, community centers, etc. After a lot of maybe's and some outright no's, we finally made contact with Father Paul at Little Flower, which happens to have northern Nevada's largest Hispanic congregation. He allowed us to start conducting outreach, so we started tabling before and after Spanish-language masses.

After two months, we began planning our clinic. In the weeks leading up to it, Father Paul promoted the clinic after every mass, published letter on why the use of fetal cell lines in research should not dissuade people from being vaccinated, shared our flyers in the church bulletin, and spread word of our clinic amongst other churches in the region. We held our first clinics in the end of May, and over two days we vaccinated almost 700 people. We have continued to hold clinics at Little Flower every 3 weeks, and with Father Paul continuing to champion the vaccine and promote our clinics, we have successfully vaccinated thousands of community members.

Quiana Shepherd, Intermountain Healthcare
Quiana contributes to the vaccination community in Southern Nevada by coordinating communication with patients and families.  Quiana continues to make efforts toward improving vaccination rates for her clinic. 

Rhonda Tremaine, Carson Valley Medical Center
Rhonda has initiated, coordinated, modified, etc. our COVID vaccination program for our entire organization. She has stood up several clinics in response to the pandemic to both test and vaccinate our employees, providers, and community. She has created our "COVID Clinic" twice to meet the demand of our community. She has lead the ordering and reporting process for all vaccination requirements. She has really stepped up as a leader to meet the needs of our organization and our community!

Sarana Jackson-Lepczyk, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Administrative support is often understated, and I would like the staff that works with the CHNs to get recognition and credit for the work that they do to ensure successful events. Without their assistance, the CHNs would not be able to conduct the number of events or vaccinate the number of individuals that they are able to with support of registration, paper management, data entry into WebIZ, set-up/tear-down, scheduling, outreach, and a host of other tasks necessary for operations. The teamwork and assistance provided is essential and greatly appreciated.

Shannin Pierce, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Community Health Nurses (CHNs) have worked tirelessly in the rural and frontier communities providing a variety of ACIP recommended vaccinations and ensuring vaccine access and equity. Vaccination events have been through their clinics; Points of Distribution (PODs); support of Mobile Vaccination Units (MVUs); travel to remote communities they serve for events; congregate living facilities; schools and back to school clinics; and private businesses. They have also mastered the everchanging recommendations, ordering, recording, storage and handling, reconciliation, and catch-up schedules. Since the start of the pandemic, CHNs have been flexible, worked long hours and weekends to provide these essential services. Their dedication and teamwork are greatly appreciated.

SilverSummit Healthplan
SilverSummit Health Plan, aside from being outstanding partners, has helped connect us with other organizations, businesses, and communities we, otherwise, would not have been able to reach easily. With this partnership, we've had the opportunity to provide vaccinations to multiple underserved populations throughout the state and they continue to be our biggest supporter as we work through this ongoing pandemic.

Susy Esquivel, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Administrative support is often understated, and I would like the staff that works with the CHNs to get recognition and credit for the work that they do to ensure successful events. Without their assistance, the CHNs would not be able to conduct the number of events or vaccinate the number of individuals that they are able to with support of registration, paper management, data entry into WebIZ, set-up/tear-down, scheduling, outreach, and a host of other tasks necessary for operations. The teamwork and assistance provided is essential and greatly appreciated.

Tammy Baumann, Nevada Health Centers
Tammy has set up several large scale clinics in Elko-which location in itself makes this a challenge-and at the one I was at they were clocking 90 seconds from check-in to vaccine administered, works well within the community that she knows so well and is a genuinely kind person.

Tammy Roesler, Pinecone Pediatrics
Always looking out for the community with lots of Covid clinics flu clinics and daily vaccines.

Teasa Cage, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Administrative support is often understated, and I would like the staff that works with the CHNs to get recognition and credit for the work that they do to ensure successful events. Without their assistance, the CHNs would not be able to conduct the number of events or vaccinate the number of individuals that they are able to with support of registration, paper management, data entry into WebIZ, set-up/tear-down, scheduling, outreach, and a host of other tasks necessary for operations. The teamwork and assistance provided is essential and greatly appreciated.

The Medical Profession, LLC Dr Robin S. White Pediatrics
Between Saturday Clinics and after hours on weekdays, 290 children have so far received their first dose of Covid vaccine.

Tim Robb, Office of the Governor
Tim is a tireless champion for not only vaccines, but for Immunize Nevada, always willing to jump in and help, expedite responses from the Gov's office and response in a prompt and helpful way. I'm so glad he is in our court!

Tristana Hamilton, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Community Health Nurses (CHNs) have worked tirelessly in the rural and frontier communities providing a variety of ACIP recommended vaccinations and ensuring vaccine access and equity. Vaccination events have been through their clinics; Points of Distribution (PODs); support of Mobile Vaccination Units (MVUs); travel to remote communities they serve for events; congregate living facilities; schools and back to school clinics; and private businesses. They have also mastered the everchanging recommendations, ordering, recording, storage and handling, reconciliation, and catch-up schedules. Since the start of the pandemic, CHNs have been flexible, worked long hours and weekends to provide these essential services. Their dedication and teamwork are greatly appreciated.

Victoria Tarango, Immunize Nevada
Victoria is a pleasure to work with! She is a little ray of sunshine and such a selfless person. She is also a very hard worker. During my most recent time working with her she volunteered for my vaccine clinic, left to volunteer tutor for kindergarteners and still came back to help us finish our super busy clinic. She was our only volunteer that day and was so helpful and worked non-stop. We couldn't have done it without her. She is also bilingual which is another great help. She is a kind soul and I'm proud to have her as one of our volunteers.

Wanda Nixon, State of NV-DPBH-CHS
Community Health Nurses (CHNs) have worked tirelessly in the rural and frontier communities providing a variety of ACIP recommended vaccinations and ensuring vaccine access and equity. Vaccination events have been through their clinics; Points of Distribution (PODs); support of Mobile Vaccination Units (MVUs); travel to remote communities they serve for events; congregate living facilities; schools and back to school clinics; and private businesses. They have also mastered the everchanging recommendations, ordering, recording, storage and handling, reconciliation, and catch-up schedules. Since the start of the pandemic, CHNs have been flexible, worked long hours and weekends to provide these essential services. Their dedication and teamwork are greatly appreciated.

West Side Pediatrics
Dr. Brookes and Sindi provide exceptional care to their patients.  Dr. Brookes and Sindi excel with compliance in the VFC program and continue to provide vaccinations to our community. They are both incredible to work with and well versed in vaccinations.  

Yvette Rhebok, Optimumedicine
Oh there are so many things I can say about Yvette. She is sweet, kind, a goofball, ...all of the above; she is just an all around amazing person. Whenever patients get vaccinated with her they always say they never feel anything as she's always talking to them and making them feel comfortable. She can get anyone excited to get vaccinated and knows how to make a patient's worries all go away. Thank you for all that you do Yvette and thank you for being you! We appreciate you!