We weren't certain what to expect other than the typical prick of a needle when Jeanetta and I showed up at the North Arkansas Regional Medical Center last week to receive our initial Pfizer covid vaccinations.
I've been fortunate to have lived a life fairly free of adverse reactions to vaccines and shots of all kinds. But her potentially problematic medical history included a bout of anaphylaxis from radioactive dye injected years ago during a procedure and a history of significant lung ailments.
She was understandably apprehensive as we arrived, filled out necessary paperwork, then sat to await our turn on the list as 200 residents over 70, along with others with reservations, steadily came and went.
Our conversation turned to the friends and acquaintances we'd lost to the virus in recent months, including Mary Patrick, who left this world after becoming infected last summer.
She'd been placed on a ventilator for about two weeks in a futile effort to save her life. Mary was the third person we knew who'd succumbed to this terrible infection that floods a victim's lungs as they lie dying away from family and friends, unable to speak.
It was a terrible and tragic death, as have been many others from covid. The threat it held was certainly real. And the choice to accept the vaccine for Jeanetta became one between possibly encountering such a fate without the vaccine and risking a possibly serious reaction, such as anaphylactic shock, which can prove fatal.
On the medical center's third floor, contingencies for such a possibility were in place, including a crash cart and epinephrine pens. She chose to risk the shot.
So we sat watching a continuing stream of Boone County senior citizens file into the room where nurses and pharmacists waited at individual tables to administer the inoculations.
I rolled up my left sleeve as youthful Molly Knight, a senior pharmacy student at Harding University (who could have been my granddaughter) readied the needle. Then, in no more than three seconds, it was over. Considering all the build-up over this vaccine, I expected to feel a quick little sting to at least trigger a wince. Instead, I felt nothing. Miss Molly had done her job well. It was the same for Jeanetta, who experienced only minor soreness the following day.
Meanwhile, personable Brian Unruh, an impossibly tall EMT and clinical specialist in the medical center's education wing, roamed the room, answering questions of those waiting out the requisite 15 minutes safe period after injection. Unruh generally put everyone at ease. We breathed easier to hear him explain that of 2,000 vaccinations given, he'd yet to encounter one serious negative reaction.
In this age when many fancy themselves as critics of most things, it felt good to be able to write this morning how impressed we were with the ease and flow of the medical center's inoculation process.
From the volunteers at the entry desk to those welcoming us into the waiting room, then into the treatment area, we didn't notice a single glitch. No undue waiting. It was obvious that hours of planning and preparation had been devoted to this day.
One thing I wasn't surprised to learn during that recovery period was that North Arkansas Regional was participating as a vaccination hub.
Eleven of the state's 75 counties have either a community pharmacy or hospital with an expensive ultra-low temperature freezer. North Arkansas Regional has the ability to store over 20,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine. The freezer and related equipment are constantly monitored by the center's pharmacy team,.
Powers that be at the medical center, including CEO Vince Leist, made the wise decision last year to invest $10,000 in the specialized freezer. As a result, the hospital became responsible for supplying vaccine to area pharmacies and others.
"We began administering the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine Dec.18 to Phase 1-A (the initial phase with limited number of doses in state) which included health-care workers, long-term-care residents and staff, EMS, fire and law enforcement and other high-priority groups," said Josh Bright, PharmD, the hospital's vice president of operations.
Vaccinations are now being administered to members in the Phase 1-B group (Arkansans 70 and older and education workers including K-12, child care and higher education).
Bright told me the medical center recognized early on the need to plan for arrival of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by purchasing the specialized freezer in which to store the vaccine at -70C to ensure its integrity.
The medical center prepared to give the vaccine by modifying its point of distribution plan for distributing medical countermeasures during a crisis, he added. That required moving the strategic national stockpile in the safest and most efficient manner possible.
And based on everything we witnessed last week, those changes facilitated the process.
"Our modification allows us to scale the work flow to meet vaccine demand while staying safe and socially distanced. Since our initial distribution, we've studied the work flow during each clinic and made adjustments in preparation for public distribution," he said.
On Tuesday, the medical center moved vaccinations to its first off-site clinic (outside of long-term-care facilities) at North Arkansas College. That preceded an outreach community clinic by so-called strike teams into Newton County for initial on-site K-12 school clinics (covering Jasper, Kingston, Mount Judea, and Deer campuses).
"It's important to us that we ensure our more rural populations have equitable access to vaccine," said Bright. "We've conducted a Harrison community clinic to administer some 500 doses, then rounded out last week by immunizing at Alpena and Omaha schools in Boone County."
This plan enabled all Boone and Newton County K-12 public schools to have their first doses, he explained. "We are also reaching out to help with schools in neighboring Marion and Searcy counties. In total, we and the three other Boone County vaccinators [pharmacies] completed nearly 2,000 doses last week and approximately 3,800 since vaccination began."
As with us, there are thousands interested in receiving the vaccine that is reported to be over 95 percent effective after two injections. A beyond-popular online waiting list has been made available at www.narmc.com/covid.
"We opened a line and had over 10,000 call attempts by 3 p.m. We then switched to the center's Web page to reduce the amount of time community members have to wait on the phone." Bright said the medical center would call individuals registered on the list as soon as community clinic spots open.
Of course, that's fully dependent on when the Arkansas Department of Health allocates doses to the community.
It's been four days since our visit and no negative after-effects for either of us.
Eternal love
Elaine McGuire shared her GodNod the other day. It seems, Pat, her beloved husband of 48 years, had just died in hospice of Parkinson's and covid.
"They had just called me and I was getting ready to go be with him until his children arrived from Oklahoma. Years before he entered long-term care, he'd bought me a 3-D reflective plastic card, size of a credit card, that said LOVE.
"I placed it on the bathroom mirror so I could see it daily. As I was putting on lipstick to leave, the card fluttered from the mirror into my makeup kit. It had never happened before, and I immediately took that as a sign Pat was reminding me he would always love me, even after death. Thank you for giving a platform for God's actions."
Highway angel
Steve Allinson wrote: "I picked up a hitchhiker 45 years ago on my way back to college. He was standing on the side of I-30 just west of Benton. He wore a white shirt and carried a Bible. We talked a lot on the drive to Magnolia.
I had asked where he was from and where he was going. He said he was from a lot of different places and that he had to go to New Orleans. I asked why and where was he staying. At the end of our trip, he said "I am an angel, I go where I am sent and will know why when I get to New Orleans. Your life will be blessed."
Dropping him off where he requested, I drove on to SAU. He seemed very serious as he made that remark in getting out of my car. I've often wondered about that day. How could I have seen that he was holding a Bible while going that fast on the highway? He didn't carry a bag or anything except the Bible.
"No miracle, just the claim of being an angel. He was a good listener at an important time of my life."
Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.
Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at [email protected].