Smith Drug/ECHO to double down on vaccination efforts

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For a variety of reasons, the State of Arkansas failed to send Covid-19 vaccination shots to Smith Drug from mid-January to mid-February. The state promised 400 shots a week to help Eureka Springs get caught up, but then storm hit and the 400 vaccines expected the week beginning Feb. 15 didn’t arrive because of bad roads.

Dr. Dan Bell, co-director of ECHO, said that Smith/ECHO received 800 Moderna vaccine shots Monday, Feb. 22. They are planning a vaccination clinic Wednesday, Feb. 24, for 400 people, with 300 of those second shots. Second shots are required four weeks after the first shot. A second clinic is planned at ECHO Saturday.

“We are very strongly excited to receive the vaccines,” Bell said. “There is not a lot of hesitancy in our 70 and older residents. They know to take this seriously. The vaccine hesitancy is not in this group. It is the younger people who are less likely to get vaccinated.”

Only people 70 and older who are already on the waiting list of Smith Drug will receive shots. ECHO volunteers will call people to schedule their vaccinations. Do not show up asking for a vaccine shot unless you are on the waiting list and eligible under current state guidelines.

About 80 percent of Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. have been in people aged 65 and older.