With Arkansas leading the nation per capita in new coronavirus cases, blamed on the spread of the especially vicious delta variant and the state’s low vaccination rate, I spoke with state Epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Dillaha on Arkansas PBS about the situation.
“This variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 is highly infectious. It causes more severe disease, it’s more quick to put people in the hospital and at younger ages,” Dillaha said. “For these reasons, we are experiencing a large number of new cases because the younger people are not the ones who’ve been getting the vaccine. It’s been the older adults who are now protected.”
She said health officials are “trying to communicate the urgency of the situation” and that people who are not vaccinated need to do it as quickly as possible since it takes five or six weeks to develop full immunity.
Over the last week, Gov. Asa Hutchinson held a series of town hall meetings around the state in Cabot, Batesville, Blytheville and Texarkana. These are smaller towns and cities where people are less likely to be vaccinated. Participating in these meetings have been community leaders, including church pastors, with the governor specifically calling on them to encourage their congregations to get vaccinated.
Dr. Dillaha praised Hutchinson for going into areas where people are less likely to be vaccinated. She said for many people, the decision on whether to get a vaccine largely depends on their social network.
“If there are a lot of people in a rural area that are not vaccinated, it’s harder for individuals to go against what their community is doing. It takes a lot of courage for people to do that. And so, by addressing this at a community level in the smaller rural areas, that enables the community to get vaccinated together,” Dillaha said.
“I think that’s an important strategy because we are influenced by who we associate with and those are the people we trust. So, if we can get good information into those communities so that they can make informed decisions, I think more people will get vaccinated.”
Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, 35-year broadcasting veteran, photographer, interested in radio, TV and railroad history, author and host of the book and podcast series Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
