The University of Central Arkansas’ BeWell program hosted a virtual town hall meeting on Tuesday, July 27, for UCA faculty and staff featuring Dr. Randy Pastor, physician and medical director of the UCA Student Health Clinic.

The virtual town hall co-sponsored by UCA’s BeWell program, Staff Senate and Faculty Senate provided the opportunity for faculty and staff members to ask questions about COVID-19 and the vaccines. In addition, faculty and staff could submit questions via email to be addressed during the forum. 

Moriah Bruner, UCA Wellness Coordinator, moderated the virtual town hall meeting with the purpose of the discussion focusing on public health and medical questions concerning COVID-19 and the vaccines.

At the beginning of the meeting, Bruner announced that Amy Whitehead, UCA Chief of Staff, would note questions relating to the fall semester and policies for future correspondence from President Houston Davis’ office. 

Pastor addressed the delta variant at the beginning of the virtual town hall meeting. 

“I think you all know that the delta variant is now the number one variant strain circulating in the U.S, and it is much more transmissible than the original two strains that come out of the alpha and the beta. Over 80 percent of Arkansas now has the delta strain,” Pastor said.

The state is seeing people who have been vaccinated test positive for the virus, even in the last week. Vaccinated people tend to have minimal symptoms, like cold symptoms, such as a sore throat and headache. The people getting tested are doing so more out of concern for others to protect those around them who are unvaccinated.

One of the first questions asked during the virtual town hall was about being fully vaccinated and avoiding the delta variant or other new variants – due to underlying health conditions – and what precautions one should take. 

Pfizer recently announced that based on data from their studies combined with data from Israel – a country that was the first to have a large population successfully vaccinated – they recommend a third dose for those who are immunocompromised.

“The FDA and the CDC unofficially said we know it’s a matter of time, but we don’t think we’re there yet; it’s not a matter of what if we’ll need it, it’s when we’ll need it,” Pastor said.  

A lengthy discussion took place on July 22, where a panel of federal vaccine specialists convened and debated the issue. The specialists couldn’t come up with a consensus in the end and decided to send the matter back to the FDA and have them make a decision.

“I think for those who are at high risk, I think it will be coming, but not yet, and therefore we’re going to adhere to the protocols in place. The specialists said that if you’re high risk until a third dose is approved, go back to wearing your mask, resume social distancing, put those layers of protection back in place, even if you’re fully vaccinated,” Pastor said. 

Pastor reassured attendees that the UCA student health clinic would provide the booster shot if and when a third shot is approved. 

An anonymous question through the zoom chat asked about risks for pregnant women and if there are studies on the vaccine’s impact on the developing childbirth weight – and if there is a preferred vaccine for pregnant women.

“The preferred vaccine would be Pfizer or Moderna. I personally would not recommend Johnson and Johnson. The vaccines are safe during pregnancy. In fact, for women who received the vaccine during pregnancy, it shows they pass on antibodies to the fetus,” Pastor said. “If you’re pregnant, the safest thing you can do is get vaccinated and protect yourself and your baby.”

When the topic of N95 masks for faculty and staff came up, Pastor reminded those attending that UCA still has plenty, and if anyone wants one or wants to replace one, they are available. 

Concerning the vaccine, Pastor stressed that the recommendation is to follow up the second dose with the same vaccine first received, be it Pfizer or Moderna, to complete the series. 

When questions arose asking if someone is vaccinated or not, Whitehead said, “We, by state law, are not allowed legally to ask anyone if they’re vaccinated or not because we’re a publicly funded institution.” 

“Our quarantine and isolation protocols should be the same in the fall as the spring and fall of last year. We will be sure to readdress those in future communications,” Whitehead added.

This is not the case for the Student Health Clinic.

“Health care professionals including in our clinic are allowed to ask about vaccination status because this is for personal health issues as well as public health issues. If someone calls you and tells you that you’ve been identified as a close contact, have you been vaccinated, we’re allowed to do that,” Pastor said. 

As a reminder, COVID-19 tests are available at the UCA Student Health Clinic. Tests are free of charge for faculty, staff and students, and that will continue throughout the semester. 

Pastor touched on the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and the Arkansas Department of Health student vaccination rate from the end of April. The data showed UCA was number one in the state for student vaccinations at the beginning of May. 

“I can tell you this, we’ve been speaking to our student-athletes, and they’ve really stepped up. They’ve been good leaders to get vaccinated; right now, our football team is close to 75% vaccinated, that includes the entire team and coaches,” Pastor said. “If we can achieve those kinds of rates with our entire student body, we will really be doing good.”

The Student Health Clinic is available for any student, faculty or staff member that may have questions concerning COVID-19 and the vaccines. In addition, there is a staff available on the weekends to answer questions through the email [email protected].