GOP governor’s vaccination tour reveals depths of distrust

TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas has hit the road, meeting face-to-face with residents to try to overcome vaccine resistance at a time when the state has the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases in the nation but is near the very bottom in dispensing shots. The town hall meetings come after other efforts to boost vaccinations such as free lottery tickets or hunting and fishing licenses haven’t had much success. At the forums, Hutchinson tries to empathize with the vaccine skeptics’ anti-government, anti-media sentiment. His message: Listen to your own doctors and medical professionals, not conspiracy theories.