Swing hard

Give fight against covid-19 the best effort

Perhaps one of the most significant signs Arkansans have reached a welcome milestone in the battle against covid-19 wasn’t the governor’s decision to let the public health emergency expire at the end of this month.

That was big, no doubt. But as everyone in the state knows, a big development becomes even bigger if you put a Hog on it. And so, last Thursday evening, more than 11,000 fans of Razorback baseball crowded into Baum-Walker Stadium (shouldn’t it be a “ballpark?”) to watch Dave Van Horn’s thrilling team begin a three-game home stand against SEC rival Florida.

It was the first time in more than a year the campus has hosted an event without attendance limitations. Vaccinated fans attending the games, according to newly adopted policies, are no longer required to wear masks, while unvaccinated folks are still encouraged to wear masks. It was the first time in a long time fans could fully experience that “This … is … baseball!” rather than “This … is … baseball … with mask-wearing and social distancing requirements that must be followed by everyone who enters the gates.”

And it felt great. Vaccinated fans could worry more about donning their bases-loaded beer hats than about covering their noses and mouths with masks to guard against covid-19. Based on the number of mask-wearing fans at the ballpark Thursday evening, Arkansas’ vaccination rate must be somewhere around 95%.

Alas, it is not. On the day of that first game against Florida, the state reported 863,429 Arkansans had been fully vaccinated. Another 239,038 were partially vaccinated. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 29.7% of Arkansas’ population had been fully vaccinated by Thursday. Taking into account those who have had at least one vaccine dose, the number grows to 38%.

One could certainly suggest Razorback baseball fans just happen to represent a high-percentage group when it comes to vaccinations. Call us skeptical, though. More than likely, though, they’re representative of Arkansans overall — a mix of individuals who have earned their post-masking credentials by getting vaccinated amid plenty of others who just haven’t gotten around to getting their shots or who actively resist the most effective means of bringing the pandemic to an end.

It’s like either walking across a bridge to get past a gator- filled swamp (sorry, Florida) or wading into the murky waters. The waders may get through unscathed, but the odds squarely favor the ones who have the good sense to protect themselves by avoiding the danger.

In announcing the end of the public health emergency, Gov. Hutchinson was clear about the pandemic.

“We are not over the pandemic. We are not over the community spread of the pandemic,” Hutchinson told the American Rescue Plan Steering Committee on Wednesday as he called for spending some of the plan’s federal funding to promote vaccinations.

In keeping with the idea that involving a Hog takes almost anything to a higher profile, Hutchinson introduced part of a $6.4 million ad campaign that includes a commercial featuring Razorback basketball great Sidney Moncrief.

“I’ve taken over 10,000 shots during my career, and one of them is the covid-19 vaccine,” Moncrief says in the commercial Arkansans will see. “It’s safe. It’s effective, and it will allow us to return back to normal. Let’s vaccinate Arkansas so we can all get back in the game. It’s the easiest shot you will ever take.”

Another $2 million will focus on smaller identifiable segments of the population that have proven to be harder to reach or to convince about vaccinations, whether through language barriers, cultural differences or their distrust of medicine or government.

The death toll attributed to covid-19 totaled 5,811 as of Friday. Daily case numbers and the number of hospitalizations late last week were the highest numbers in two months, although mercifully much lower than when the pandemic raged unabated before vaccines were readily available.

We can’t blame anyone for wanting to go mask free. Who among us aren’t sick of them? The danger comes for those who convince themselves the reduction of mandates translates into a reduction of risk for the unvaccinated. The only people helping to reduce risks of spreading covid-19 are the ones who embrace vaccinations or those among the unvaccinated who continue to wear masks when around others.

It’s pretty clear, though, that people across the board are giving up masks, even in crowded or indoor situations where the virus can still spread. The single, most effective thing to do to support giving up masks is to be vaccinated. Everything else is an unhealthy gamble.

For those unvaccinated, let’s remember there are no rules that say you can’t wear a mask. If it makes you feel safer or if you’re willing to protect other unvaccinated people, wear one. And if you see someone wearing a mask, don’t disparage the act. Live and let live, perhaps literally.

For those Arkansans who have ever dreamed of being like Sidney Moncrief, here’s your shot.