Natural State News

As the much of the nation has or is preparing to get the COVID-19 vaccination, vaccination hesitancy is higher in the south, Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care (AFMC) CEO said.

AFMC CEO Ray Hanley said in a recent YouTube interview that polls show Southerns are the least likely to get vaccinated, while North Easterners are the most likely. Hanley cited the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll that shows that of all adults polled nationally between March 3 to 8, 45% do plan to get vaccinated, while 22% have already been vaccinated and 30% say they will not get the vaccine. 

When asked about hesitation Hanley has seen himself while giving the vaccination, he said that he has seen some people be hesitant but were able to overcome that. 

"There were some, and we had this one guy, but one of the ways he overcame that (hesitancy) is that we partnered with the residency program at Unity Health and while we had the nurses and the clinical person there, they sent over residents to help in the clinic and you had these white-coated physicians that were there to answer questions and visit with the people after they got their shots," Hanley said. "Some people showed up with questions and hesitancy but once they talked with the clinical people they were able to overcome that."

Hanley said that the COVID-19 vaccination will most like end up being an annual shot like the flu shot, but most likely it will take a while before it is found out how long the vaccination is effective. 

AFMC, headquartered in Little Rock, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to working with health care providers and individuals to promote excellence in health "through education and evaluation."

"We accomplish this through education, outreach, data analysis, information technology, medical care utilization and review, and marketing/communications services provided by a staff of approximately 300," the AFMC website stated. "At the forefront of health care reform and practice transformation, AFMC is an established, trusted partner in private, state and federally led payment innovations by Medicare, Medicaid and commercial payers."