Some Arkansas health officials are showing concern at the state’s low COVID-19 vaccination rates, the apparent emergence of a new variant, and a steady rise in case numbers.
The state is “…still seeing an average of 168 new COVID-19 cases per day,” according to analysis from the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) and the website, ArkansasCovid.com. The site highlighted info from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing only about 33 percent of the Arkansas adult population is fully vaccinated — a low number that places the state third-to-last among the 48 contiguous states.
Further, the website said the low vaccination rate in the state, combined with the Delta variant posing a high infection risk for people age 20 and younger, could cause problems when school resumes in the fall.
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Screenshot via: Arkansas Department of Health (Click here for the latest information.)
As of Sunday, June 20, the ADH reported 133 new cases has been added in Arkansas within 24 hours while another 4,322 additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered. The day before, the department reported 251 new cases had been added with 5,519 additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered.
In the north central Arkansas area, ADH numbers show a heavy COVID-19 presence in Stone County and White County. In fact, out of 12 north central Arkansas counties, Stone County, one of the smallest of those counties in terms of population, currently has 28 percent of the total number of cases from this entire 12-county area. (UPDATE: Click here for comments from Stone County Judge Stacey Avey on the county’s case increase.)
In a CNN interview Saturday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the state has to overcome “resistance out there” when it comes to low vaccination rates. As cases tick up, there is a greater urgency to get vaccinations, Hutchinson said. He also noted a number of Arkansans still have yet to receive a second dose of the vaccine.
“There is resistance out there that we have to overcome,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says about the state’s lower vaccination rates.
Hutchinson says the number of people not going back for a second dose has risen, which is “a concern.” https://t.co/0ycbmPXnYq pic.twitter.com/kHrnxjr99F— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) June 19, 2021
- For a link to the ArkansasCovid.com article, click here.
- Data referenced in the ArkansasCovid.com article from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can be found here.
- To read more about the Delta variant, click here.
- For the latest COVID-19 information from the Arkansas Department of Health, click here.
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