Springdale council OKs funds to aid in vaccination efforts

SPRINGDALE — The Springdale City Council on Tuesday pledged its support for efforts to help prevent the spread of covid-19.

City Council members agreed in a 7-0 vote to provide $87,176 in American Rescue Plan Act money to aid the Northwest Arkansas Council’s efforts at education and providing vaccinations. Council Member Mike Overton was not at the meeting.

Other municipal governments, Chambers of Commerce, institutions and private and corporate donors have joined the Northwest Arkansas Council’s efforts. Ryan Cork, the Northwest Arkansas Council’s executive director for health care transformation, said municipal participation was based on a city’s or county’s population.

Mayor Doug Sprouse noted that Springdale would provide $1 per resident.

The Northwest Arkansas Council since February has sponsored mass vaccination clinics, pop-up vaccination clinics and covid-19 testing throughout the region, Cork said.

While the state provides the vaccine doses for the inoculations, the Northwest Arkansas Council has provided manpower.

As of Tuesday, Northwest Arkansas Council volunteers had delivered more than 55,000 vaccinations, Cork said.

“We worked to establish a testing center, hire bilingual contact tracing and navigation staff, and provide tests for the uninsured and vulnerable populations in Northwest Arkansas,” the council’s website says of its work.

The Northwest Arkansas Council in May sponsored a survey of more than 2,000 people in three counties to determine reasons for vaccine hesitancy, Cork said. Results were released in July.

Respondents who weren’t vaccinated listed medical concerns about the vaccines, issues with the government’s involvement and moral questions about the vaccines, Cork reported.

The research project came about after officials began noticing fewer people participating in mass vaccination clinics, hosted by the council and its partners, in comparison with the percentage of the population that was still unvaccinated, according to Cork.

The survey led Northwest Arkansas Council leaders to recommend a six-month communication strategy with the goals of educating the public about the safety and importance of vaccinations and persuading everyone in Northwest Arkansas to get the shots.

“The council is using data and research to drive the message,” Cork said. “We want to make sure you have correct, accurate information, so you can make a decision about vaccinations for you and your family.”

The campaign would be an extension of the “Safe and Strong” initiative developed last year in a partnership involving the Northwest Arkansas Council and the Northwest Arkansas health care community. That campaign provides materials in English, Spanish and Marshallese to promote handwashing, social distancing and mask-wearing to stop the spread of covid-19.

In other business Tuesday, the City Council in a 7-0 vote approved a $4.7 million contract with Brothers Construction in Van Buren to build a southern extension to Gene George Parkway. The boulevard will start at the roundabout at Don Tyson Parkway and run just north of New Hope Road, said Brad Baldwin, the city’s director of engineering and public works.

The 1,000-foot project will include a connector to New Hope Road and will finish the roundabout.