Catherine Pappas, community liaison and educator for the Eureka Springs Hospital, is manning her phone 24/7 willing to answer any questions about the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines the hospital is providing.
“If I can get five or more people, we will do a clinic upon a request out in the community,” Pappas said. “I will go wherever they want me to go if there are at least five people. One vial of the Pfizer vaccine can provide about seven shots. We just need enough people that we don’t waste vaccines. Those who have said ‘yes’ have jumped on it and we are having clinics wherever they want to have them.”
Pappas has arranged vaccinations at the Berryville Community Center and the adult day care center in Berryville. She has reached out to other locations and a clinic was held recently to vaccinate some rehab patients.
Arkansas and Carroll County have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, along with one of the highest rates of new cases of Covid-19. Pappas is happy to talk to people with concerns about the vaccine.
“The big conspiracy theory is that there are microchips within the vaccines,” Pappas said. “There is concern the government will use the chip to follow people. Of course, that is not true. I can show you the vial and there are no microchips in it.”
She has also talked to people who were worried based on a past diagnosis such as having severe allergies.
“An allergy is okay,” Pappas said. “You can still get a vaccine. But you should call your doctor to make sure. There are people who say they want to wait a little longer. It is a person’s choice. We don’t want to force them into it. We just want to educate them. When we have been vaccinated, the whole system works and the community does get better.”
Pappas said they have had some Covid-19 patients in the hospital recently, but they came in because of other issues—not Covid symptoms.
“Covid isn’t what brought them into hospital because the diagnosis is different,” she said. “They have tested Covid positive but are not having symptoms of Covid. It’s showing that the vaccine is working.”
Pappas said anyone with questions or who wants to schedule an appointment can call her at (281) 382-0054. The hospital is working to provide first or second shots every Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. She said about 24 people were vaccinated July 9 and 47 the Friday before that. She said one family with five children 12 and older recently came in to be immunized. A lot of the shots are now going to the younger age groups only recently approved to take the vaccines.
People need a second Pfizer vaccination about three weeks after the first, and the person is considered fully immunized two weeks after the second shot.
Shots of the Moderna vaccine administered by the ECHO Clinic are available Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon at Smith Drugs. To make an appointment, call (479) 253-9175.
Vaccination rates have improved among Eureka Springs Hospital employees with 61 percent currently vaccinated, according to Pappas. Vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers has been a concern across the U.S. with rates as low as 30 percent reported at some hospitals. Hospital leaders are concerned that unvaccinated workers put patients and co-workers at risk.
Workers at the Mercy Hospital system, one of the larger health systems in the country, are being required to get vaccinated by the end of September. Mercy has seen a surge of Covid in its Missouri hospitals and clinics in Joplin, Springfield and St. Louis. Mercy Springfield had 133 Covid-19 patients as of July 11 and had to borrow ventilators from other hospitals, and bring in travel nurses and additional physician support. Mercy also has hospitals in Berryville, Fort Smith and Rogers which haven’t, thus far, shown the surge being seen in Missouri.
“Mercy has seen the real-world impact of the protection vaccines provide,” a July 7 press release from Mercy states. “The majority of Mercy patients recently hospitalized with Covid-19 have not been vaccinated.”
Dr. John Mohart, Mercy’s senior vice president of clinical services, said more than 95 percent of recent Covid hospitalizations across the U.S. are people who aren’t vaccinated.
“The data is clear,” Mohart said. “Vaccination is key to saving lives.”
Dr. William Sistrunk, Mercy infectious disease specialist, said requiring vaccinations is essential to the health of patients at Mercy facilities.
“As health care leaders in our communities, it is important we set the standard to prevent the spread of Covid-19,” he said. “Vaccination is our best defense against the virus..”
Mercy said it will work with co-workers to develop a plan for compliance ahead of the scheduled deadline.