Deaths from Covid-19 in Carroll County increased by four, to 56, in the seven-day period ending August 23, representing an increase of 7.6 percent in one week as the county goes through the fourth wave of Covid, according to reports from the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). Carroll County continues to see high levels of new cases of Covid-19 with cases increasing 3.5 percent to 3,698 the seven days ending August 23.
Eureka Springs Hospital reported 60 positive Covid tests in the past seven days, and 52 cases the week before, according to information from St. Cloud Times (data.sctimes.com). That website also reports 64 new Covid-19 cases at Mercy Berryville in the past week. Testing is also done in other locations, such as the Eureka Springs Family Clinic.
The New York Times Covid tracker continues to report that unvaccinated people in Carroll County are at an extremely high risk for Covid-19 infections. “Since January of last year, at least 1 in 8 people who live in Carroll County have been infected, and at least 1 in 507 people have died,” the NYT reports. “Because of high spread, the CDC recommends that even vaccinated people wear masks here.”
About one out of three Carroll County residents is fully vaccinated.
On August 23, the FDA granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine which, like the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots, had only emergency use approval. Catherine Pappas, community liaison for Eureka Springs Hospital, said that action by the FDA should be a big help in encouraging people to get the vaccine.
“Even many nurses have been saying they were waiting for FDA approval to get the vaccine,” Pappas said. “The FDA is a very strong, trusted source for information. I think it will influence a lot of people to get vaccinated. I hope they will soon also lower the age of children who can be vaccinated. The problem now is even a fully vaccinated adult can catch the virus, not even know they have it, and pass it along.”
Currently the Pfizer vaccine has full approval for those 16 and up and emergency use approval for children 12 to 15. The other vaccines are approved for those 18 and up. Pappas has been arranging vaccination clinics at ESH Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and out in the community on request.
The current Delta variant that is the most common strain in the U.S. is more infectious than the original Covid strain. Currently Arkansas has the fifth highest number of new cases per population in the U.S., and the state continues to break records for Covid hospitalizations and ICU use.
More younger people are being hospitalized than earlier in the pandemic, but that age group has also been less likely to get vaccinated. For example, in Carroll County, 54 percent of people over the age of 65 are fully immunized.
Pappas has been dismayed to see people take the stance that they won’t get the vaccine because of political reasons.
“People feel it is a political move and it has nothing to do with politics,” Pappas said. “It has to do with health and science. We do not know how Covid is going to affect each single person. If you have a mild case of Covid, we don’t even know about the antibodies you get from that. The vaccine is a true source to help you.”
Currently Pfizer and Moderna booster shots are only authorized for people with immune system problems. The federal government is expected to recommend booster shots for all Americans eight months after their second vaccination. But health authorities are still split on whether these are necessary or helpful.
Pappas said they are getting a rush of calls of people wanting booster shots.
“Those who understand the science don’t want to wait,” Pappas said. “Antibodies from an infection or the vaccine are waning, and the virus is rampant in our area. You can get it, be very infective the first five days, and not know you have it. At that point, how many have you spread it to? What we are seeing in our hospital is that some people come in for other reasons, are tested, and did not know they have Covid. We have to test everyone who comes through the door.”
Eureka Springs School District is requiring masks for students and staff. The week school started, Eureka Springs was added to the red zone for school districts where the entire population of the district (not just students and staff) was experiencing 50-99 new Covid cases per 10,000 population in the previous two weeks, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. About 200 school districts are in the red zone and 50 are in the purple zone areas with more than 100 new cases per 10,000 population in the past two weeks.