4 counties’ shot rate trails state, U.S.

Since covid-19 vaccines became available in December 2020, nearly 63% of the population in Benton, Washington, Sebastian and Crawford counties have been partially or fully vaccinated for covid-19, but the region’s vaccination numbers still lag behind state and national averages.

A total of 423,228 people in the four-county area have been partially or fully vaccinated for covid-19, according to Arkansas Department of Health data. Another 97,066, or 14.4% of the population, have received booster shots.

In Arkansas, 65.8% of the eligible population, or 1.87 million people, have received their first or second dose of the vaccine and 15.8% — about 449,247 people — have received a booster dose.

Nationally, 78.5% of people age 5 and older have received at least one vaccine, and 34.9% of the eligible population has received a booster shot, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Covid-19 vaccines first became available to health care workers in December 2020. The vaccine was made available to the rest of the population in phases, starting with high-risk and elderly people, in early 2021. The vaccine became available to all adults in April and in May became available to children over the age of 12.

The Pfizer vaccine is now available to all children 5 and older and boosters are available to all adults and children over 16.

The Northwest Arkansas Council’s Healthcare Transformation Division has spent the past year hosting mass vaccination clinics as well as smaller pop-up events, according to Ryan Cork, executive director of the division.

A highlight of the year has been bringing the community together to deliver more than 65,000 doses of vaccine, he said. The council has hosted mass vaccination clinics at locations such as J.B. Hunt in Lowell and has organized clinics at locations such as the Arkansas Music Pavilion, churches and in neighborhoods with the goal of making access to vaccines easy and hassle-free, he said.

The nontraditional events allow people access to vaccinations without having to navigate a health-care setting, he said.

“We’re really going out and meeting people where they are,” he said.

The council is still seeing some patients getting their first dose of vaccine, as well as a number of people getting their second dose and booster shot, Cork said.

Between Dec. 3 and Jan. 5, 60,658 people in Benton, Washington, Sebastian and Crawford counties received a first, second or third dose of the covid-19 vaccine, according to data compiled by the Department of Health. A total of 225,732 people in Arkansas received a dose in the same time period.

Cork attributes the people who are just now getting their first vaccine to the polls the council conducted in June that show many Northwest Arkansas residents had a wait-and-see approach to the vaccine. Fortunately, the vaccine has proven to be very safe, he said.

CAUSE FOR ALARM

Dr. Joe Thompson, president and CEO of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, said data from South Africa, Israel and England clearly show the booster shot provides optimal protection against the new omicron variant.

The infectiousness of the omicron variant, combined with the swift increase in cases and the low number of people in the state protected by a booster — 15 to 20% of the population — is cause for alarm, he said Wednesday.

Benton and Washington counties reported a record 1,035 new cases of covid-19 Wednesday, according to the Northwest Arkansas Council. The state set a record for single-day increases in covid cases for the second day in a row with 7,488 cases Wednesday, according to the Department of Health.

The CDC recommends all people 16 and older get a booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine at least five months after completing the primary vaccine series. Adults can get a booster shot of Moderna vaccine at least six months after the primary series, and a booster shot of Johnson and Johnson vaccine at least two months after the initial dose.

It takes about 10 days for patients to reach full immunity after receiving a booster shot, Thompson said.

In the coming year, Cork said the Northwest Arkansas Council plans to continue doing its part to bring covid-19 vaccines to the community. It will host a clinic at J.B. Hunt every Friday, as well as clinics at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and a series of eight vaccination events at the Amazeum in Bentonville, he said.

The council welcomes suggestions about places or events for vaccine clinics, Cork said.

“We are agreeable to do anything that would help vaccinate the community in Northwest Arkansas,” he said.