A week after the governor of Arkansas expanded eligibility for Covid-19 vaccination to the remaining portion of 1-B, the governor expressed disappointment in the shortage of newly eligible people who have been signing up to get the shot. On March 16, he announced that he was also opening up the group 1-C, which earlier wasn’t expected to be eligible until April.
Group 1-C includes people who are 16-64 with high-risk medical conditions, people in food service, water and wastewater, shelter and housing, finance, IT and communications, energy, media and other categories. The people who became eligible on March 8 include grocery store workers, parcel and mail delivery personnel, farmers, ministers, poultry workers and categories of essential government workers not included in earlier eligibility schedules.
Surveys indicate that a significant number of people in the lower-risk age groups either aren’t planning to take the shot or are uncertain.
The dichotomy is that while some people aren’t planning to become vaccinated, others are desperate to get the shots. Those include people who have underlying health conditions that could cause severe illness or death if they become infected. There have been reports in the national media of two women dressing up as old women in order to get vaccinated, and a man who tried to use his father’s ID to get vaccinated. Those efforts failed.
While the health department recommends that people in eligible categories show up with a pay stub or employee ID to verify their eligibility, requirements for proof of eligibility can vary depending on the pharmacy or other health providers.
“We’re not requiring paycheck stubs or letters from their employers or anything like that,” Dr. Dan Bell, said. He is with ECHO Clinic which has been providing the vaccination for people on the waiting list at Smith Drug in Eureka Springs. “We’ve simply been taking people’s word. In most cases, we know the people. Because it is a small town, we know they work in a certain capacity. To our knowledge, we have not had any fraud.”
Bell said locally there wasn’t a great deal of demand in the past week from those in the area who are newly eligible. He has seen a lot of demand from people in the 50-64 age range, and from those who have pre-existing conditions that put them at greater risk for Covid illness, long-term health problems and death.
Bell said he hopes the governor will expand eligibility soon. “We hope he will move down to people with medical conditions who we think should really have it, and we have the capacity,” Bell said.
ECHO gave about 130 shots during the drive-through clinic March 10. ECHO has been receiving 400 shots per week, so there was more supply than the demand that week. March 24 they will start giving second shots for about 700 people vaccinated a month earlier.
“That will be a big patch we will have get through,” Bell said.
ECHO has already given two shots to an additional 500 people making them fully vaccinated.
Some vaccine providers in Arkansas have reportedly not been requiring documentation of eligibility, and there apparently are no penalties for providing a shot to someone who is not eligible. But Bell said they are working to be consistent with the governor so ECHO can be consistent with their patients.
Bell said there is a group of people waiting to see what happens to others who have gotten vaccinated before deciding to get the shot themselves.
“We are now seeing widespread vaccination without ill effects, so it is loosening up resistance,” Bell said. “People who have been vaccinated are grateful to be able to resume life as normal as it can be at this time.”
Spencer Mabry, co-owner Economy Drug, Berryville, said they are still giving as many shots as vaccines received.
“We are filling up every spot that we have,” Mabry said. “Everything seems to be going well in Carroll County right now.”
Vaccinations in Carroll County are also available at the Eureka Springs Hospital, Holiday Island Drug, Poynor Drug in Berryville, Mercy Hospital in Berryville, and Harp’s Pharmacy in Green Forest. Tyson, the largest employer in the county, has also announced it will be providing free onsite Covid-19 vaccinations at its plants, and that surveys have indicated about 80 percent of workers are interested in receiving the vaccine. Veterans can get vaccinated at VA Centers.
Despite vaccine hesitancy, news about the spread of Covid-19 in the state continues on a promising trend. On March 15, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced there were 117 new COVID-19 cases in Arkansas. Active cases have plummeted from 27,822 Jan. 9 to 2,863 March 15.
For many months now, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement has been providing Covid-19 numbers by zip code, community and school district. But those figures haven’t been provided since before the winter storms in February that caused many people to be isolated at home for about two weeks. ACHI said there currently isn’t enough testing being done to accurately estimate the rates of Covid-19.
While some are concerned about the lack of testing and the spread of more contagious variants, others suggest that fewer people are getting tested because not as many people are falling ill. According to the Arkansas Department of Health, on March 8, Carroll County had 2,315 confirmed Covid-19 positive cases with 2,267 considered recovered and 38 deaths. On March 15, ADH reported one additional death in Carroll County, five new cases and 2,270 considered recovered.