Second, support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

The Arkansas Times and KUARFM 89.

Hi everybody, I'm down at Tyrell.

The COVID-19 vaccine is now available for kids ages 5 to 11.

How well will it be received by parents will address those concerns in just a moment.

But first we take a look at the COVID-19 vaccine mandate that applies to businesses with 100 or more employees.

The rules released go into effect January 4th, but not without opposition.

It applies to businesses.

As I just said with 100 or more employees, businesses have until.

January 4th and all unvaccinated people will have to be tested if they do not get the vaccine.

U S Senator John Bozeman is here now talking about challenging this mandate.

First of all, Senator, thank you so much for joining us today.

No, thank you so much for having me as always Don.

It's good to be with you.

Well I I to get started into this.

I just want to hear your thoughts on the President's mandate.

Well, I'm very much opposed to it.

I don't think that OSHA has the authority to do this.

This is so sweeping.

Besides that, it's gonna as I go around Arkansas.

The two things I hear about our labor and the supply chain, and this is going to dramatically disrupt that.

Also, I'm a guy that believes very strongly in vaccinations.

I have a, you know, a past in the medical field.

I'm an optometrist.

My brother was ophthalmologist for the large clinic and so I really, really, really encourage people to get vaccinated.

I think we can be so proud as a nation.

The great job that we did in developing the vaccination time speed that we did on the other hand, there's lots of people at many in the medical profession, many throughout various careers doing all kinds of things.

It just feels strongly that this is important.

We should respect that and the idea of just coming down in a very, very heavy handed way and saying you've got to do this is not productive.

And I don't think it's helpful at all the other things.

But as you.

Recapped about the law.

Was the fact that the fines are really heavy handed.

I think up to $130,000 for businesses.

You know, if you make a false statement, we're talking about a $10,000 fine as an individual and six months in jail potentially.

So this is this is simply unacceptable in Congress.

What we're doing is pushing back.

I think there'll be a lot of legal suits, and I think the courts will be with those.

Do, on the other hand, we're pushing back with a Congressional Review Act, and this is the thing that we can use to stop.

Is things from coming coming into effect that the administration pushes out through the agencies have to have a problem in 60 days and I think we've got a good good chance of actually winning that.

But you know what?

I want to get into the specifics on what you and I guess it's a total of 40 senators plan to do to challenge this mandate.

But before we do, I want to put this graphic back on the screen.

Situated workers must begin wearing masks by December 5th and provide a negative COVID test on a weekly basis that would be after January 4th and companies are not required to pay for or provide COVID tests unless otherwise required by state laws, local laws and labor union contracts.

Also Senator, there's another component to all of this.

There's the CMS part that's the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

They will require health care workers at facilities participating.

In Medicare and Medicaid, to be fully vaccinated, one affects 84 million people.

The other one affects 17 million people.

I'm wondering since there are two components to this and some people may not understand that until now.

How do you intend to address both?

Well, we can overturn the OSHA.

Regulation has come out by Congress, and so that's what myself and many other senators.

Senator Cotton included are leading the charge in making sure that we have that vote.

This particular vote in the Senate is unusualness since it only takes 51, and so we're a long way towards achieving that.

But I, I think that the American public is going to stand up and and just say no.

This is all about for the last four days and it's it's just simply unacceptable.

That's that's a very good point to make.

You say you you believe the American public will stand up and say, no, let's talk about corporations like Tysons Tyson, right here in Arkansas.

They've implemented a vaccine requirement and they have a large, large majority of their workers vaccinated.

There are other companies that have done the same thing, so when when you speak of this, do you think everyone is in agreement with you on that?

My guess.

Would be no.

No, I think everyone is in agreement that if you're a company.

Well, if you're a company and you want to vaccinate, that's one thing.

If you're the federal government saying that that everyone has to to vaccinate every company, whether they want to or not, that's a totally different situation.

That's the situation that we're in now.

Worry about tysons.

I worry about other places because the labor force right now is so slight.

Our trucking industry.

All of these things that were the supply chain.

Uh, you lose just a half a percent, 1% or whatever you got big problem.

And it's not just that, it's not just companies like that.

I worry about what's going to happen with veterans with veterans care.

I'm very involved in that space.

I've talked to numerous individuals that work for the VA.

I'm talking about physicians, nurses, all the way down.

They simply aren't going to do this.

Well, let's let's talk about this because you mentioned I'm sorry, and I don't mean to cut you off.

We just don't have a whole lot of time.

You, you mentioned veterans.

We all know that getting into the military.

You have to take vaccines.

You have to be vaccinated to send your children to school.

They have to be vaccinated.

These are mandates that have been in place for decades, and you know, I don't hear the kind of outcry about those like we're hearing about the COVID vaccine.

Why is that?

I don't know, but I but I do know that that I have friends.

You have friends that are very knowledgeable, that that are hardworking folks with all kinds of.

As I said earlier, you know probably a very large percentage, maybe 1520% of the medical profession hasn't been vaccinated.

So there are people that feel very strongly that this simply isn't for them.

And probably if they had to be vaccinated before they joined the military, they would have joined the Meltzer.

But the idea of all of a sudden springless upon essentially the entire workforce of the nation, it's going to have a real rippling effect, which I think is going to be very, very detrimental.

I would much rather take that act of using incentives encourage people to do it, and that's been very successful.

Also, throughout many many companies, and that's what I was getting ready to to ask you, if not a mandate, then you know how do you suggest we get more Americans?

To get the vaccine and I and I do understand this is a a personal choice.

I understand that argument that people should have the right to choose whether they want it or not.

But you yourself got the vaccine and there's a reason you chose to do that.

So clearly you're in favor of the vaccine.

So with that said, how do you get more people to think like you?

Well, I think you encourage him.

You know education is good, but the fact that you know so many people have had it and have been seriously ill. We we all know people that have been touched by this disease in a very negative way.

So I think you used the incentives of doing it in that way rather than again just the heavy handed you've got to do this because that narrative really feeds into the to the Big Brother approach, but I would much rather see this.

And individually by corporations.

The way the Tysons did it, and since that you know they worked with their employees, they've got a very high vaccination rate.

I don't know exactly what they did, but I you know that's something we should commend them for, but idea that the federal government is going to come down and say, you know you do this, you're gonna lose your job.

That's not a good situation at all, and I think, based on the labor shortages that we have now and the fragility of the supply chain.

It's really going to disrupt our economy at a time that's already disrupted.

OK, we have less than three minutes and I wanted to kind of switch gears here and talk to you about something else.

The key elections that took place this week in Virginia and New Jersey Virginia now has a Republican governor New Jersey, just barely, barely one on the Democratic side.

What do you think this means for the GOP and 2022 next year as well?

As the the midterm races and in 2000 or actually that would be the presidential race in 2024.

Well, as as I go around the country in the state.

As I said earlier, I hear about labor.

I hear about the supply chain.

People grab me and kind of pull me this.

I'd say, John, you know who's really in charge at the White House.

There's just a lot of unease right now throughout the country.

Instead of talking about things that affect people inflation.

All of this.

We're coming out with policies are actually going to add to that greatly.

The Green New Deal is part of this massive spending.

Program that that the Democrats are trying to get past people realize you know that's going to increase their gasoline costs.

It's already gone up at dollar and quarter since last year.

Home heating is going projected to be 30% higher this year and the list goes on and on and then they come out with the crazy pay fors.

The idea that you're going to, you know if you have $600 of activity in your checking account now, it's $10,000.

That all of that information is going to go to the IRS.

People are coming back and saying we're tired of this.

This big government approach we want to deal with the things that are so so very important to the average American.

And they're just.

Yeah, sounds like I'm I'm cutting you off.

I'm so sorry we have less than a minute.

So like I said before you think we're going to see changes next year as well as in 2024 in terms of Republicans taking control again.

The only thing I could say is that these things are usually a bellwether.

Republicans will get an opportunity, but they they've got to start talking about what they're for.

You know, we, we've got to come out with policies that deal with with what I'm what I just talked about, and so we're going to have an opportunity and we are going to, you know, start talking about and continue down the path of less government, less taxes, less government in your life on a daily basis.

Those kind of things, so I think that we're moving, having the opportunity we need to take advantage of it and take American public.

Well, we will keep watching and and reporting on it as well.

Senator John Bozeman.

It's so nice to talk with you.

Thank you for having me, and we appreciate your show very much.

We appreciate it.

OK I will say hi to Steve.

Alright stay with us.

We'll be right back.

As the state prepares to roll out COVID-19 vaccinations for kids 5 to 11, some parents welcome that.

It's finally here, but there are still reservations here to address concerns and what to expect from the pediatric vaccine.

Are doctor Jessica Snowden, division Chief of pediatric infectious disease at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Doctor Joe Thompson, CEO and President.

For the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.

Thank you both for being here, talking about the children's vaccine that a lot of people are smiling about.

But as I said, there are some who still have reservations about it.

So let's get into this with first of all, how many children under the age of 17 ended up getting COVID-19?

Especially during that Delta variant when we were at the height of that doctor Snowden.

I guess you can answer that.

I actually can't answer your specific number for you, but I can tell you what we were seeing here in the Children's Hospital in Arkansas is we went from very rarely having kids in the hospital with COVID-19 maybe one or two to having 20 to 30 kids a day for several weeks during the peak of the delta wave, things are getting better but still not back down to normal.

So all of us here at the Children's Hospital are really excited now to have the opportunity to protect even more kids and keep them out of the hospital.

So many of them ended up in the hospital.

How many died or what percentage?

Would you have children who actually died from COVID-19 so fortunately, mortality?

Death is really rare for kids with COVID-19, but we have had three kids here in the state who have died from COVID-19, and I think one of the things for all of us to remember as a vaccine preventable illness.

Any child is one child, too many got it.

You know, I want to show you a graphic from.

It's actually a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

They interviewed parents to see how they felt.

About the vaccine.

76% of the parents who were surveyed were concerned about long term side effects with the vaccine in children between the ages of five and 1171% felt that there could be serious side effects, and there's still 66% of the population that believe that this vaccine can cause fertility problems.

I know a lot of pregnant women didn't want to take the vaccine, and a lot of women who hoped to be pregnant someday.

So doctor.

Thompson, are these valid concerns?

Well, I think as you mentioned, these are concerns that parents express.

There's not any evidence or experience to support these concerns we've now vaccinated over 100 million people in the United States.

More than that around the world.

With these vaccines, they've gone through effectiveness and safety trials that show these to be some of the most effective and most safe vaccines that we've ever developed.

I think there is another large source of misinformation out there.

My observation is we kind of have three sets of parents.

We have parents that have been vaccinated and protected themselves and are excited about the opportunity to protect their younger children.

We have parents that chose to protect themselves and get vaccinated, but they may have the concerns that you put up in the Kaiser Family Foundation reported and then unfortunately we have a large number of parents that have not taken the step to protect themselves and probably will not protect their children.

This is a.

This is a new virus.

Our bodies have never seen it.

It is a threat in all of our communities and the side effects are very mild and self limited.

One of the questions that I hear that was not in the Family Foundation is is it going to change my child's DNA?

The vaccine never gets to your the nucleus of your cell that holds your DNA, so there's no way this virus these new technologies can affect your child's DNA.

So I really hope we can get accurate information.

I hope people talk with their clinicians.

I think the demonstration of the protection that this will give will have parents want the vaccine to be able to say I'm doing everything I can to protect my child from this new viral risk, which is in all of our communities.

Well, maybe what we should talk about now is what exactly is in this vaccine?

How does it differ from the one that adults take?

I know it's a smaller dose, but is there anything different about it?

That's really it.

It's a smaller dose, so for kids they get about a third of the dose.

That adults do, but otherwise it's the same active ingredients that we saw in the vaccine.

That is, Doctor Thompson said we've given to hundreds of millions of people now very, very safely, but otherwise it's exactly the same thing we got as adults in the Pfizer vaccine.

Just A smaller dose because their immune system, like the rest of their bodies, are growing up still, and so they need a little bit smaller dose than the rest of us do.

What kind of side effects will will children deal with?

This is still the same as what adults and very similar to what we saw, very similar to what we saw in adults and teenagers.

Interestingly, one of the things that we saw in the data that was presented.

To the FDA is that children are slightly less likely to have side effects than adults, and importantly, one of the things that we've been worried about was the inflammation that we saw occasionally and kids.

Older adolescents who got the COVID-19 vaccine that appears to be less common in this younger age group.

They actually had no children who had that side effect during the clinical trials, but we will continue monitoring that for all kids who got vaccinated.

I can tell you my own son when he got his vaccine on Wednesday, came bouncing down the stairs on Thursday morning.

Like nothing had happened, he felt great and was really excited.

OK, I just want to just clarify this.

He was his arm sore and as you were talking about with the side effects there still would be children who might experience some flu like symptoms, right?

Correct?

Yes, the side effect profile that we saw really is exactly the same as what we see in adults.

They'll have some redness and pain potentially at their arm, and that's what Oliver had.

He had pain in his arm and they will also.

In some kids have fever and fatigue, but that's a smaller proportion of children than what we saw in adults.

OK, doctor Thomas, I'm sorry.

The vaccines for kids and now 5 to 11 year olds went through thorough testing.

That's why it's later than it was for adults.

The FDA actually asked Pfizer to expand the number of kids that they were assessing to make sure that there were no kind of new side effects identified and there were not.

This is really the soreness in the arm is because you're giving your immune system the fingerprint of the bad actor of the delta variant in the COVID virus, so that's a natural reaction that your immune system.

Is having to be prepared in case you come in contact with the virus in the future.

OK, you mentioned Doctor Thompson that.

You mentioned three groups.

The fully VAX who had been excitedly waiting for this to happen so that they can get their their their children vaccinated.

Some people who have been vaccinated, but they're still hesitant about getting their children vaccinated.

And then there are others that just are 100% opposed to they themselves being vaccinated or having their children vaccinated.

How do you get to that group?

Or is that a loss causes it?

The third group?

That?

Or I'm sorry.

The middle group that you want to get to.

Well, I think we need to reach all.

I don't think it is a lost cause with anyone.

If people have decided I'm not going to get a vaccine, the following is what I use.

It's really.

I think you have to get out of the clinical language.

This is about are you going to protect yourself, your family, your children against a new threat that could claim their life.

The Delta variant of COVID-19 or a future variant that may come.

This is a new virus.

Our bodies have never seen it so our immune system doesn't even recognize it as a threat.

Through protection through the vaccines, you can give your immune system the fingerprint of what to watch for and have it react immediately when it comes in contact with the virus, not days later, after the virus has gotten a foothold.

So I think all three of those groups can revisit their decisions.

The groups that are clamoring to get their vaccines for their kids.

Now that's great, but anyone who is hesitant or has decided against the vaccine, I would really encourage you to rethink about protecting yourself and your families, particularly as we come into this holiday season.

So we're going to want to get together and have a more normal Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years experience.

You want to do that in a protected way and not have any unintended harm.

Come to anyone you know.

There could be families out there who they, you know, the whole families had COVID that the kids have already had COVID and they they may be thinking we don't need the vaccine now, is that true?

We would still recommend anybody get vaccinated even if you've had COVID-19.

We know, for instance, that the earlier strains of COVID-19 don't really actually offer protection against the Delta variant.

So if you got COVID earlier on you, even if you still had antibodies, they're not going to protect you against what's circulating right now.

And we don't know how long those antibodies last, particularly in children, so we recommend that everybody get vaccinated even if you've already had COVID-19.

It adds protection for you.

In a way that's going to be longer lasting and as Doctor Thompson said, is a very safe vaccine at the height of the Delta variant, we were seeing a lot of kids in the hospital.

Doctor Snowden.

Is that still the case?

Are there still many children hospitalized with COVID right now?

Thankfully, things have gotten a lot better here in the hospital.

We are seeing fewer children now than we were earlier this summer with the peak of the delta wave, but I think it's really important to note that we're still not back to where we were before.

There are still far too many kids who are being admitted here to the hospital every day who are having trouble breathing.

And all of those children are children who aren't vaccinated, either because they haven't been vaccinated yet or until this week they were too young, so we encourage everyone to get vaccinated.

That's the best way to keep your child from ending up here.

And we're heading into flu season.

There are some parallels in terms of symptoms with COVID as well as the flu.

And you know other viral infections.

So I would think now right now is a really good time if you're going to do this to go ahead and do it because as well as getting that flu vaccine right exactly.

And you can get them at the same time.

So that's one of the questions we get asked.

A lot.

Is can I have my COVID vaccine and my flu vaccine at the same time?

Do I need to?

Wait, you can get them both at the same time and I would encourage you to get them both.

And like you said Donna, one of the things that we're all going to have to watch for as we come through the winter season is we're still going to have COVID-19.

We're also going to have flu and our normal cold viruses RSV.

The other things we see every winter.

Those are all going to be circulating in our community.

Anything we can do to protect our children from the problems those calls is going to be really beneficial, particularly since we know now that if kids get COVID-19 and.

One of those other winter viruses, their illness is more severe, so we want to make sure that they're safe.

Doctor Thompson, still more than 50% of Arkansans, are not vaccinated.

This will be a game changer.

Obviously now that children can can get the vaccine between 5:00 and 11:00 because that's going to.

That's going to change these numbers, but we're still dealing with the issue of variants being able to emerge.

I think the last time you and I talked you were really concerned about another variant.

We've already gone through the Delta variant.

Is there one on the horizon that scares you at this point, especially for Arkansans being that you know the number of fully backsters is relatively low.

The variants are still being tracked both by the CDC and the World Health Organization.

Luckily, at this point in time in November, the Delta variant is still the bad actor in the United States and it is affecting younger and younger people.

A majority of those infections are under age 45 and in adolescents and children, so I would say, and this is my best analogy.

We're still in hurricane season, but we don't have a hurricane coming right at us other than the one that we already knew about now.

I think we're dividing.

Into two groups.

Basically, people that are protected and can go about and can feel relatively comfortable that they are safeguarded and people that are unprotected.

This virus is in all of our communities.

If you're unprotected, your immune system does not have any protection from it, even as doctor Snowden said, you know, almost half the people that got infected earlier didn't have any symptoms, so your immune system might not hold on to the fingerprint of COVID-19, and that's why it's important for everyone whether you've had COVID-19 infection.

Before or not to take advantage of the vaccine and get you and your family protected.

We only have one minute left, so I'm just going to let you guys give some final thoughts.

What's the message that other than what you've already sent so far?

What else would you like to tell Arkansans in terms of getting children vaccinated?

I think what I would say is ask your questions, ask your pediatrician, call us and ask us here at the Children's Hospital we are providing lots of information.

There's no such thing as a silly question.

Your job as a parent is to protect your child.

Let us help you feel confident in making this choice to protect your child.

Doctor Thompson.

The holidays are coming and if people take advantage of protections that are available, we can once again have the normal large family gatherings.

But it's time for families to ask the question.

Are you going to come protected or do we still need to keep defenses in place because you've not chosen to protect yourself and now your child and the vaccine?

They people?

Where do they go to get this vaccine for children?

For Arkansas Children's Hospital, you can reach out to us at archildren.org/moreinfo.

That's where you can sign up to get information about how to get scheduled with us.

And then the Arkansas Department of Health will always be a great source of information for where to find vaccine near you.

Very good, well, Doctor Thompson, Dr Snowden.

Thank you both for joining me for Arkansas Week and hopefully we can get a lot of those kids vaccinated.

Alright, hopefully so, and I want to thank you for joining us for Arkansas week.

I'm Donna torrell.

Will see you next time.

Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

The Arkansas Times and KAR FM 89.